inchoative

English

Borrowed from Latin inchoātīvus, formed by metathesis from incohātīvus, from incohō (“to begin”). Compare French inchoatif.

inchoative (not comparable)

At the beginning, still in an unformed state.
- 1648, Walter Montagu, “The One and Twentieth Treatise. Of the Preheminences of a True Contemplative Life. §. I. Contemplation Defined, and Some Excellencies thereof Discoursed.”, in Miscellanea Spiritualia: Or, Devout Essaies, London: […] W[illiam] Lee, D[aniel] Pakeman, and G[abriel] Bedell, […], →OCLC, page 387:
  [T]he day-Star […] ſhall be riſen in our hearts; vvhereof theſe acts of our intellect ſeem to be ſome inchoative or imperfect rays, […]
- 1858–1865, Thomas Carlyle, History of Friedrich II. of Prussia, Called Frederick the Great, volumes (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC:
  Our first Piece is of Winter, or late Autumn, 1771,—while the solution of the Polish Business is still in its inchoative stages; …
(grammar) Aspectually indicating that a state is about to be entered or is in the process of being entered.
- 1974, Floyd L. Moreland, Rita M. Fleischer, Latin: An Intensive Course, University of California Press, page 12:
  The inchoative (inceptive) aspect of a verb expresses the beginning of an action. Example: He is beginning to crawl.
(grammar) Inflected in or relating to the inchoative aspect.

at the beginning

grammar: aspectually indicating that an action is to begin

related to the inchoative aspect

inchoative (plural inchoatives)

inchoative aspect on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
“inchoative”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
“inchoative”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

inchoative