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in·cho·ate

(ĭn-kōĭt, -āt′)

adj.

1. Being in a beginning or early stage; incipient: "The country was developing an incipient national art, an inchoate national literature" (Jay Winik).

2. Imperfectly formed or developed; disordered or incoherent: "A prophet must be a good public speaker, someone who can transform inchoate rage into eloquent diatribe" (David Leavitt).

[Latin inchoātus, past participle of inchoāre, to begin, alteration of incohāre : in-, in; see IN-² + cohum, strap from yoke to harness.]

in·choate·ly adv.

in·choate·ness n.

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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