incipient

[ in-sip-ee-uhnt ]
See synonyms for: incipientincipiently on Thesaurus.com

adjective
  1. beginning to exist or appear; in an initial stage: an incipient cold.

Origin of incipient

1
1580–90; <Latin incipient- (stem of incipiēns, present participle of incipere to take in hand, begin), equivalent to in-in-2 + -cipi- (combining form of capi- take) + -ent--ent

Other words for incipient

Other words from incipient

  • in·cip·i·ent·ly, adverb

Words that may be confused with incipient

Words Nearby incipient

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use incipient in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for incipient

incipient

/ (ɪnˈsɪpɪənt) /


adjective
  1. just starting to be or happen; beginning

Origin of incipient

1
C17: from Latin incipiēns, from incipere to begin, take in hand, from in- ² + capere to take

Derived forms of incipient

  • incipience or incipiency, noun
  • incipiently, adverb

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012