incipient

Definitions

in- (on, into) + cip- (a form of capere, 'to take') = 'taking hold of, taking up' a beginning. Latin incipere meant 'to begin' — literally to 'take in hand' a new task. So something incipient has just been 'picked up' and started: an incipient illness, an incipient crisis.

Common Collocations

• 1.incipient stage初期阶段
• 2.incipient crisis萌芽中的危机
• 3.incipient signs初露的迹象

Example Sentences

• 1.

  Doctors caught the incipient infection before it spread.

• 2.

  There were signs of an incipient rebellion among the troops.