Definition(s)https://www.iadclexicon.org/wp-admin/post.php?post=4378&action=edit
Incipient Failure
Imperfection in the state or condition of an item so that a degraded or critical failure might (or might not) eventually be the expected result if corrective actions are not taken.
Source: API STD 689, Collection and Exchange of Reliability and Maintenance Data for Equipment, First Edition, July 2007. GlobalStandards