incubation

The act of incubating.

The state of being incubated.

The development of an infection from the time the pathogen enters the body until signs or symptoms first appear.

The maintenance of an infant, especially a premature infant, in an environment of controlled temperature, humidity, and oxygen concentration in order to provide optimal conditions for growth and development.

The act of sitting, as on eggs, for the purpose of hatching; brooding; hatching: often used figuratively, as of writings, schemes, etc.

In pathology, the unnoticed or unknown processes or changes which occur in the interval between the exposure to an infectious disease and the development of its first symptoms.

A lying in or within; specifically, the act of sleeping in a temple for the purpose of obtaining revelations by dreams, or in the hope of being visited by the god and relieved of some ailment, as in the Greek sanctuaries of Æsculapius.

In pathology, the period that elapses between the introduction of the morbific principle and the outbreak of the disease.

A sitting on eggs for the purpose of hatching young; a brooding on, or keeping warm, (eggs) to develop the life within, by any process.