inchoate

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
inchoate /ɪnˈkəʊeɪt, ˈɪnk-, -ət/

▶adjective

• 1 not fully formed or developed; rudimentary.

  ■ confused or incoherent.

• 2 Law (of an offence, such as incitement or conspiracy) anticipating or preparatory to a further criminal act.

– derivatives
inchoately adverb,
inchoateness noun.

– origin C16: from L. inchoat-, inchoare, var. of incohare ‘begin’.