The word incubation (from the Latin incubare, "to lie upon") can mean the following:

• In chemistry or biochemistry, incubation refers to maintaining a system under specific conditions in order to promote a particular reaction.
• The word incubate is applied to sitting on or brooding birds eggs in order to hatch them.
• In economics and management, incubation refers to the support provided by business incubators in the development phase of startups when entrepreneurs work on the launch of their companies.
• Incubation can refer to infant warming when they cannot maintain their normal body temperature.
• An incubation period in medicine means the time before being exposed to infection and showing first symptoms.
• Incubation also refers to the religious practice of sleeping in a sacred area with the intention of experiencing a divinely-inspired dream or cure. Incubation was practised by members of the cult of Asclepius and votive offerings found at his ritual centres at Epidaurus, Pergamum and Rome detail the perceived effectiveness of the method . Incubation was adopted by certain Christian sects and is still used in a few Greek monasteries. Cf. incubus (demon), or a nightmare.