inchoate

[in-koh-it, -eyt or, esp. British, in-koh-eyt] /ɪnˈkoʊ ɪt, -eɪt or, esp. British, ˈɪn koʊˌeɪt/

adjective

not yet completed or fully developed; rudimentary.

just begun; incipient.

not organized; lacking order:

an inchoate mass of ideas on the subject.

Origin

1525-35; < Latin inchoātus, variant of incohātus past participle of incohāre to begin, start work on, perhaps equivalent to in- -in-² + coh(um) hollow of a yoke into which the pole is fitted + -ātus -ate¹

Related forms

inchoately, adverb

inchoateness, noun

Can be confused

inchoate, innate (see synonym study at innate)

Examples from the web for inchoate

My tentative take is that there's an inchoate quality to their fears that's new.
But from this inchoate, messy movement emerged a central demand: an eight-hour workday.
Their thinking moves by leaps in the dark, through fruitful errors and inchoate visions.
The opposition is inchoate, its leadership unknown, its aims so far vague and various.
Given the spontaneous, geographically diverse and inchoate nature of these disturbances, there was never a credible single cause.
The liability to contribute is inchoate only when the sacrifice has been made.
inchoate means not quite perfectly formed, or a poor copy of something else.

British Dictionary definitions for inchoate

inchoate

adjective (ɪnˈkəʊeɪt; -ˈkəʊɪt)

just beginning; incipient

undeveloped; immature; rudimentary

(of a legal document, promissory note, etc) in an uncompleted state; not yet made specific or valid

verb (transitive) (ɪnˈkəʊeɪt)

to begin

Derived Forms

inchoately, adverb
inchoateness, noun
inchoation, noun
inchoative (ɪnˈkəʊətɪv) adjective

Word Origin

C16: from Latin incohāre to make a beginning, literally: to hitch up, from in-² + cohum yokestrap

Word Origin and History for inchoate

adj.

1530s, from Latin inchoatus, past participle of inchoare, alteration of incohare "to begin," originally "to hitch up," from in- "on" (see in- (2)) + cohum "strap fastened to the oxen's yoke." Related: Inchoative.