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Wiktionary

foster

See also: Foster

English

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WOTD – 30 July 2007

Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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From Middle English foster, from Old English fōstor (“food, sustenance”), from Proto-West Germanic *fōstr, from Proto-Germanic *fōstrą (“nourishment, food”).

Cognate with Middle Dutch voester (“nursemaid”), Middle Low German vôster (“food”), Old Norse fóstr (“nurturing, education, alimony, child support”), Danish foster (“fetus”), Swedish foster (“fetus”).

Adjective

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foster (not comparable)

  1. Providing parental care to children not related to oneself.
    foster parents
  2. Receiving such care.
    a foster child
  3. Related by such care.
    We are a foster family.
Translations
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Noun

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foster (countable and uncountable, plural fosters)

  1. (countable, informal) A foster parent.
    Some fosters end up adopting.
  2. (uncountable) The care given to another; guardianship.

Verb

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foster (third-person singular simple present fosters, present participle fostering, simple past and past participle fostered)

  1. (transitive) To nurture or bring up offspring, or to provide similar parental care to an unrelated child.
  2. (transitive) To promote the development of something; to cultivate and grow a thing.
    Our company fosters an appreciation for the arts.
    • 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, Canto VIII, page 10:
      ⁠A flower beat with rain and wind,
      Which once she foster’d up with care
    • 1905, Lord Dunsany [i.e., Edward Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany], The Gods of Pegāna, London: [Charles] Elkin Mathews, […], →OCLC:
      And Time, which is the hound of Sish, devoured all things; and Sish sent up the ivy and fostered weeds, and dust fell from the hand of Sish and covered stately things.
    • 2016 February 23, Robbie Collin, “Grimsby review: ‘Sacha Baron Cohen’s vital, venomous action movie’”, in The Daily Telegraph (London):
      Grimsby doesn't ever wound quite as devastatingly as Borat or Brüno, but it's a vital, lavish, venomously profane two fingers up at Benefits Street pity porn and the social division it fosters.
  3. (transitive) To nurse or cherish something.
  4. (intransitive, obsolete) To be nurtured or trained up together.
Usage notes
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Modern English makes a distinction between fostering (which is implied to be temporary or informal) and adopting (which is permanent and makes the child legally recognized as part of the family). In older usage the two terms were more interchangeable.

Antonyms
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  • (antonym(s) of “cultivate and grow”): hamper
Derived terms
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Translations
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The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

Etymology 2

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Noun

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foster (plural fosters)

  1. (obsolete) A forester.

Anagrams

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Danish

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Danish Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia da

Etymology

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From Old Norse fóstr (“rear, raise”), from Proto-Germanic *fōstrą.

Noun

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foster n (singular definite fostret or fosteret, plural indefinite fostre)

  1. fetus

Inflection

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Declension of foster
neuter
gender 		Singular Plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative foster fostret
fosteret 		fostre fostrene
genitive fosters fostrets
fosterets 		fostres fostrenes

Middle English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology 1

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Inherited from Old English fōster, from Proto-West Germanic *fōstr, from Proto-Germanic *fōstrą; reinforced by Old English fōstre (“fosterer”). The vocalism is due to regular shortening before a three-consonant cluster (in the Old English oblique stem fōstr-).

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈfɔstər/, /ˈfɔstrə/

Noun

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foster (plural *fostres)

  1. A child; one of one's progeny.
  2. (chiefly Early Middle English) Food or other care.
  3. (rare) A foster child or adopted child.
  4. (rare) A foster parent or adoptee.
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Descendants
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  • English: foster
  • Scots: foster
References
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Etymology 2

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Noun

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foster

  1. Alternative form of forester

Etymology 3

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Verb

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foster

  1. Alternative form of fostren

Norwegian Bokmål

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Norwegian Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia no

Etymology

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From Old Norse fóstr.

Noun

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foster n (definite singular fosteret or fostret, indefinite plural foster or fostre, definite plural fostra or fostrene)

  1. (biology) a fetus or foetus

Derived terms

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References

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Norwegian Nynorsk

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Norwegian Nynorsk Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia nn

Etymology

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From Old Norse fóstr.

Noun

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foster n (definite singular fosteret, indefinite plural foster, definite plural fostera)

  1. (biology) a fetus or foetus
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References

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Old English

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Pronunciation

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Noun

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fōster n

  1. Alternative form of fōstor

Declension

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Declension of fōster (strong a-stem)
Case Singular Plural
nominative fōster fōstru
accusative fōster fōstru
genitive fōstres fōstra
dative fōstre fōstrum

Swedish

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Swedish Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia sv

Etymology

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From Old Norse fóstr (“rear, raise”), from Proto-Germanic *fōstrą.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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foster n

  1. a fetus
  2. (figuratively) an (intellectual) product
    ett foster av hans sjuka fantasi
    a product of his sick imagination

Declension

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Declension of foster
nominative genitive
singular indefinite foster fosters
definite fostret fostrets
plural indefinite foster fosters
definite fostren fostrens

Derived terms

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See also

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References

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