Although not its most common use, this word has meaning within the legal system that indicates anticipatory crimes (those where the planning and preparation make clear full intent to carry out illegal behavior).

inchoate (in·cho·ate): / in KOH it /
adjective

(1) just begun or just beginning to develop; incipient
(2) not yet fully developed or completed; imperfectly formed; rudimentary
(3) not organized; lacking structure or order; chaotic; formless

[From Latin inchoatus, variant of incohatus, past participle of incohare meaning “to begin, start work on.”]

Usage: The vast majority of scientists agree Earth’s climate is in the inchoate throws of global change.