Incubation period


In medicine, the time from the moment of exposure to an infectious agent until signs and symptoms of the disease appear. For example, the incubation period of chickenpox is 14-16 days.

In biology, the incubation period is the time needed for any particular process of development to take place. For example, the length of time for turtle eggs to hatch is the incubation period.

Read Also:

  • Incubator

    In biotechnology. an apparatus in which environmental conditions can be set and controlled. Incubators are used in microbiology for culturing (growing) bacteria and other microorganisms. Incubators in tissue culture rooms are used for culturing stem cells, lymphocytes, skin fibroblasts and other types of cells. And in the hospital nursery and newborn intensive care unit (NICU), […]

  • Incurable

    Not amenable to a cure. Incapable of being cured, healed and made well again. From the word cure, from the Latin cura meaning care, concern or attention.

  • Incus

    One of the three tiny bones in the middle ear. Sound impulses coming from the eardrum are conveyed from the malleus to the incus and from the incus to the stapes at the oval window to the inner ear. Incus is Latin for anvil.

  • Index case

    A person who first draws attention to his or her family because of having a medical condition. For example, if an eye doctor discovers a person has glaucoma, and subsequently other cases of glaucoma are found in the person’s family, that person is the index case. Also known as propositus (if male) or proposita (if […]

  • Index, body mass (BMI)

    An index that relates body weight to height. The body mass index (BMI) is obtained by dividing a person’s weight in kilograms (kg) by their height in meters (m) squared. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) now defines normal weight, overweight, and obesity according to the BMI rather than the traditional height/weight charts. Since the […]


Disclaimer: Incubation period definition / meaning should not be considered complete, up to date, and is not intended to be used in place of a visit, consultation, or advice of a legal, medical, or any other professional. All content on this website is for informational purposes only.