incubate

Definition

To brood, raise, or maintain eggs, organisms, or living tissue through the provision of ideal environmental conditions.

Etymology

First attested in 1641; borrowed from Latin incubātus, an alternative to incubitus, perfect passive participle of incubō (“to hatch”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from in- (“in”) + cubō (“to lie”).

Example Sentences

• "The places where the birds are nesting are interesting spots to visit. Both parents incubate and the scene is animated as the birds fly about in all directions."
• "Part of our problem in praying for our children, he suggested, is the time lage, the necessary slow maturation of our prayers. But that's the way of God's rhythm in nature. For instance, the hen must patiently sit on her eggs to incubate them before the baby chicks hatch."
• "The mother dead these fourteen years did incubate in her own bosom the creature who would carry her off."