incubation

ot noun

1. Sitting on eggs for the purpose of hatching young; a brooding on, or keeping warm, to develop the life within, by any process.
2. The development of a disease from its causes, or the period of such development.
3. A period of little reaction which is followed by more rapid reaction.
4. One of the four proposed stages of creativity (preparation, incubation, illumination, and verification): the unconscious recombination of thought elements that were stimulated through conscious work at one point in time, resulting in novel ideas at a later point.