rhizoverbBeta
DictionaryRoot: in-
Latin

in-

in, into, on, upon

Forms

  • in-
  • im- — Used before b, m, or p in Latin.
  • il- — Used before l in Latin.
  • ir- — Used before r in Latin.
  • en- — Developed in French in some words later borrowed into English.

Origin

Reconstructed Proto-Indo-European *en, ‘in.’

Note

Identical spellings can hide two different prefixes: this one indicates position or direction, while the other means ‘not.’

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noun

incubation

Development of a disease between infection and the appearance of symptoms.

Symptoms appear after a period of incubation.

Etymology
incubationLatinlie upon; brood

The Latin verb evokes a bird brooding on eggs. Disease incubation borrows the image of concealed development before the condition emerges in recognizable symptoms.

More examples

  • The disease has a longer incubation period than expected.
  • During incubation, the infected person may not yet feel ill.
  • The study compares incubation times for different infections.

Forms

incubation