foment
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Old French fomenter, from Late Latin fomentare, from Latin fomentum (“lotion”), from fovere (“heat, cherish”).
Pronunciation[edit]
- (RP) IPA: /fəʊˈmɛnt/
- (US) IPA: /foʊˈmɛnt/, /fəˈmɛnt/
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Audio (US) (file) - Homophone: ferment (in some dialects, unstressed)
Verb[edit]
foment (third-person singular simple present foments, present participle fomenting, simple past and past participle fomented)
- To incite or cause troublesome acts; to encourage; to instigate.
- He was arrested for fomenting a riot; after all, it's bad enough being in a riot but starting one is much worse.
- (medicine) To apply a poultice to; to bathe with a cloth or sponge.
- 1904, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Adventure of the Abbey Grange, Norton (2005), page 1178,
- The maid had entered with us, and began once more to foment the bruise upon her mistress's brow.
- 1904, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Adventure of the Abbey Grange, Norton (2005), page 1178,
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
to incite or cause
