incipient Meaning, Definition & Usage

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

WordNet

In*cip"i*ent adjective
Etymology
L. incipiens, p. pr. of incipere to begin. See Inception.
Definitions
  1. 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.

Webster 1913