foment
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English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Middle English fomenten, a borrowing from Old French fomenter,[1] from Late Latin fomentare, from Latin fōmentum (“lotion”), from fovere (“heat, cherish”).
Pronunciation[edit]
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /fəʊˈmɛnt/
- (US) IPA(key): /foʊˈmɛnt/, /fəˈmɛnt/
Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -ɛnt
- Homophone: ferment (in some dialects, unstressed)
Verb[edit]
foment (third-person singular simple present foments, present participle fomenting, simple past and past participle fomented)
- (transitive) 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.
- Foreign governments have tried to foment unrest.
- January 7 2021, Peter Walker, “Tories urged to suspend politicians who likened US violence to anti-Brexit protests”, in The Guardian[1]:
- Boris Johnson and senior Conservative ministers have vigorously condemned the violence in Washington, but have largely steered clear of condemning Trump for fomenting it.
- (medicine, transitive) To apply a poultice to; to bathe with a cloth or sponge.
- Synonym: beath
- 1904, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Adventure of the Abbey Grange, Norton, published 2005, page 1178:
- The maid had entered with us, and began once more to foment the bruise upon her mistress's brow.
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
to incite or cause
|
(medicine) to apply a poultice to
Noun[edit]
foment (plural foments)
- Fomentation.
- 1892, Julian Ralph, On Canada's Frontier:
- He came in no conciliatory mood, and the foment was kept up.
References[edit]
- ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “foment”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
Catalan[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Learned borrowing from Latin fōmentum.
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
foment m (plural foments)
Related terms[edit]
Further reading[edit]
- “foment” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
Categories:
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *dʰegʷʰ-
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Old French
- English terms derived from Late Latin
- English terms derived from Latin
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/ɛnt
- Rhymes:English/ɛnt/2 syllables
- English terms with homophones
- English lemmas
- English verbs
- English transitive verbs
- English terms with usage examples
- English terms with quotations
- en:Medicine
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- Catalan terms borrowed from Latin
- Catalan learned borrowings from Latin
- Catalan terms derived from Latin
- Catalan terms with IPA pronunciation
- Catalan lemmas
- Catalan nouns
- Catalan countable nouns
- Catalan masculine nouns