inchoate en · ADJ
Pronunciation
- /ɪnˈkoʊət/ (General-American)
- /ɪnˈkəʊeɪt/ (Received-Pronunciation)
- /ɪnˈkəʊət/ (Received-Pronunciation)
- (US) audio
- /ɪnˈkoʊeɪt/ (General-American)
Etymology
The adjective is first attested in 1534, the verb circa 1631; borrowed from Latin incohātus (“begun, unfinished”), perfect passive participle of incohō (“to begin”), see -ate (etymology 1, 2 and 3). Cognate with Spanish incoar (“to initiate, commence, begin”).
Meanings
-
Recently started but not fully formed yet; just begun; only elementary or immature.
A youth whose brain glowed like a furnace, whose heart throbbed with tumult of high ambitions, of inchoate desires.
1892, George Gissing, Born In Exile:It being determined that a constitution should be made for the inchoate government, men were selected by its sponsors, from those at the Illinois Camp Ground, including as many western Cherokees as could be induced to sign it.
1839, Cherokee Constitution:This appointment is evidenced by an open, unequivocal act, and, being the last act required from the person making it, necessarily excludes the idea of its being, so far as it respects the appointment, an inchoate and incomplete transaction.
1803, Supreme Court of the United States, Marbury v. Madison:The private conception of any breach of law is apt to be inspiriting, for the scheme (while yet inchoate) wears dashing and attractive colours.
1889, Robert Louis Stevenson, Lloyd Osbourne, “The Tribulations of Morris: Part the First”, in The Wrong Box, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., →OCLC, page 85:It do's indeed perfect and crown thoſe graces which were here inchoate and begun, but no mans converſion ever ſucceeded his being there ...
1677, Richard Allestree, The Art of Contentment, page 187:How inutterably sad was the look this fluid inchoate figure of the wolf threw from his beautiful shy eyes.
1928, Hermann Hesse, Steppenwolf:Very odd and ugly were these beings, as indeed are most beings of a world yet inchoate and rudely fashioned.
1919, H. P. Lovecraft, The Doom That Came to Sarnath:...unfortunately, we have to face inchoate schemes which will demand the utmost jealousy and vigilance of Parliament.
1885, Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, On the Death of General Gordon:Guthrie’s inchoate socialist leanings grew into a deep commitment to the labor movement.
2004 March 29, David Hajdu, “Folk Hero”, in The New Yorker:neither a substance perfect, nor a substance inchoate
1614, Walter Ralegh [i.e., Walter Raleigh], The Historie of the World […], London: […] William Stansby for Walter Burre, […], →OCLC, (please specify |book=1 to 5):
-
Chaotic, disordered, confused; also, incoherent, rambling.
The Met's chairman, Sir Edward Watkin, was also chairman of that company [the Manchester, Sheffield & Lincolnshire Railway], which duplicated other railways' routes in an inchoate way between Manchester and Grimsby, and generally stumbled about the north.
2012, Andrew Martin, Underground Overground: A passenger's history of the Tube, Profile Books, →ISBN, page 73:
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Of a crime, imposing criminal liability for an incompleted act.
Congress considers the inchoate offenses of attempt and conspiracy, even conspiracy without an overt act, to be just as serious as the federal substantive drug offenses which they contemplate.
2006, United States v. McKenney, 450 F.3d 39 (1st Cir. 2006)
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| more inchoate | Degree=Cmp | lexicographic | |
| most inchoate | Degree=Sup | lexicographic |
Deriveds
inchoateness · inchoately · choate (back-formation)
Synonyms
embryonic · confused · elementary · incipient · chaotic · immature · rudimentary · nascent
Translations (86)
fa اِبْتِدَائِی (started but not fully formed) · hi आरम्भिक (started but not fully formed) · hi शुरूआती (chaotic, incoherent) · de beginnend (started but not fully formed) · sa अपक्व (started but not fully formed) · hi अस्फुटित (chaotic, incoherent) · mr अविकसित (started but not fully formed) · sa असम्पूर्ण (started but not fully formed) · sa अविकसित (started but not fully formed) · mr अपूर्ण (started but not fully formed) · nb embryonisk (started but not fully formed) · sv outvecklad (started but not fully formed) · hi शुरुआती (started but not fully formed) · nb usammenhengende (chaotic, incoherent) · el νεοφανής (started but not fully formed) · de im Entstehen begriffen (started but not fully formed) · nb uutviklet (started but not fully formed) · el ατελής (started but not fully formed) · cs nevyvinutý (started but not fully formed) · sh spetljano (chaotic, incoherent) · es incipiente (started but not fully formed) · hi शुरूआती (started but not fully formed) · hi असम्पूर्ण (chaotic, incoherent) · ru неоконченный (started but not fully formed) · sh nedovršen (started but not fully formed) · es incoherente (chaotic, incoherent) · mr अपक्व (started but not fully formed) · nb springende (chaotic, incoherent) · hi अस्फुटित (started but not fully formed) · fa اِبْتِدَائِی (chaotic, incoherent) · ru хаотичный (chaotic, incoherent) · sa प्राथमिक (started but not fully formed) · hi इब्तिदाई (started but not fully formed) · hi असम्पूर्ण (started but not fully formed) · fi orastava (started but not fully formed) · hi अपक्व (chaotic, incoherent) · sh spetljan (chaotic, incoherent) · hi अपूर्ण (chaotic, incoherent) · sa अपूर्ण (started but not fully formed) · sa अस्फुटित (started but not fully formed) · hi आरम्भिक (chaotic, incoherent) · hi इब्तिदाई (chaotic, incoherent) · hi अविकसित (chaotic, incoherent) · cs jsoucí v zárodku (started but not fully formed) · bg недоразвит (started but not fully formed) · mr असंपूर्ण (started but not fully formed) · ur اِبْتِدَائِی (chaotic, incoherent) · ur اِبْتِدَائِی (started but not fully formed) · hi प्रारम्भिक (started but not fully formed) · mr आरंभिक (started but not fully formed) · fi alullaan oleva (started but not fully formed) · ru ранний (started but not fully formed) · mr प्रारंभिक (started but not fully formed) · mr प्राथमिक (started but not fully formed) · nb kaotisk (chaotic, incoherent) · ja 無感性な (started but not fully formed) · es embrional (started but not fully formed) · fi alkeellinen (started but not fully formed) · ar اِبْتِدَائِيّ (started but not fully formed) · cs nevyzrálý (started but not fully formed) · sh začet (started but not fully formed) · de unausgegoren (started but not fully formed) · mr अस्फुटित (started but not fully formed) · bg зачатъчен (started but not fully formed) · hi अपूर्ण (started but not fully formed) · sa प्रारम्भिक (started but not fully formed) · de chaotisch (chaotic, incoherent) · fi jäsentymätön (chaotic, incoherent) · sh spetljana (chaotic, incoherent) · nl onvoldragen (started but not fully formed) · hi प्राथमिक (started but not fully formed) · nl embryonaal (started but not fully formed) · fi sekava (chaotic, incoherent) · hu befejezetlen (started but not fully formed) · fr embryonnaire (started but not fully formed) · cs vznikající (started but not fully formed) · hi अविकसित (started but not fully formed) · hi शुरुआती (chaotic, incoherent) · hi प्राथमिक (chaotic, incoherent) · es caótico (chaotic, incoherent) · ar اِبْتِدَائِيّ (chaotic, incoherent) · sa आरम्भिक (started but not fully formed) · hi अपक्व (started but not fully formed) · ru начальный (started but not fully formed) · cs rodící se (started but not fully formed) · hi प्रारम्भिक (chaotic, incoherent)