inchoate Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. adjective satellite only partly in existence; imperfectly formed
    incipient.
    • incipient civil disorder
    • an incipient tumor
    • a vague inchoate idea

WordNet

In"cho*ate adjective
Etymology
L. inchoatus, better incohatus, p. p. of incohare to begin.
Definitions
  1. Recently, or just, begun; beginning; partially but not fully in existence or operation; existing in its elements; incomplete. -- In"cho*ate*ly, adv.
    Neither a substance perfect, nor a substance inchoate. Raleigh.
In"cho*ate transitive verb
Definitions
  1. To begin. Obs. Dr. H. More.

Webster 1913