- [uncountable]
the hatching of eggs 孵(卵);孵化 artificial incubation (= using artificial warmth) 人工孵化。
- [countable] (also incubation period)(
medical or医学 biology )生物 the time between somebody catching a disease and the appearance of the first symptoms (传染病的)潜伏期 The incubation period of the virus is 24 to 48 hours. 病毒的潜伏期为24至48小时。
- [uncountable] (
biology )生物 the development and growth of bacteria, etc. Topics Biologyc2(细菌等的)繁殖
Word Originearly 17th cent.: from Latin incubatio(n-) ‘brooding’, from the verb incubare, from in- ‘upon’ + cubare ‘to lie’.