incipient
/ɪnˈsɪp.i.ənt/ adjective, noun
Forms incipients
- adjective In an initial stage; beginning, starting, coming into existence. “After 500 years, incipient towns appeared.”
- noun (obsolete) A beginner.
- noun (grammar) A verb tense of the Hebrew language.
Synonyms
beginning commencing emerging starting inchoate nascent embryonic beginner inceptor
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin incipiēns, present participle of incipiō (“begin”).
Webster’s 1913
- adjective Beginning to be, or to show itself; commencing; initial; as, the incipient stage of a fever; incipient light of day. -- In*cip"i*ent*ly, adv.
Etymology [L. incipiens, p. pr. of incipere to begin. See Inception.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “incipient”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details