inchoate - Definitions from Dictionary.com

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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

in·cho·ate

Audio Help [in-koh-it, -eyt or, especially Brit., in-koh-eyt] Pronunciation Key

–adjective

1.	not yet completed or fully developed; rudimentary.

2.	just begun; incipient.

3.	not organized; lacking order: an inchoate mass of ideas on the subject.

[Origin: 1525–35; < L inchoātus, var. of incohātus ptp. of incohāre to begin, start work on, perh. equiv. to in- -in-² + coh(um) hollow of a yoke into which the pole is fitted + -ātus -ate¹

]

—Related forms

in·cho·ate·ly, adverb

in·cho·ate·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
inchoate

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

in·cho·ate Audio Help (ĭn-kō'ĭt) Pronunciation Key
adj.

In an initial or early stage; incipient.
Imperfectly formed or developed: a vague, inchoate idea.

[Latin inchoātus, past participle of inchoāre, to begin, alteration of incohāre : in-, in; see in-² + cohum, strap from yoke to harness.]

in·cho'ate·ly adv., in·cho'ate·ness n.

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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
inchoate

1534, from L. inchoatus, pp. of inchoare, alteration of incohare "to begin," originally "to hitch up," from in- "on" + cohum "strap fastened to the oxen's yoke."

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

inchoate
adjective
only partly in existence; imperfectly formed; "incipient civil disorder"; "an incipient tumor"; "a vague inchoate idea" [syn: incipient]

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Inchoate

In"cho*ate\, a. [L. inchoatus, better incohatus, p. p. of incohare to begin.] Recently, or just, begun; beginning; partially but not fully in existence or operation; existing in its elements; incomplete. -- In"cho*ate*ly, adv.

Neither a substance perfect, nor a substance inchoate. --Raleigh.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Inchoate

In"cho*ate\, v. t. To begin. [Obs.] --Dr. H. More.

Dictionary.com Word of the Day Archive - Cite This Source - Share This

inchoate

inchoate was Word of the Day on October 26, 1999.

Dictionary.com Word of the Day

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