foster

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ˈfɒs.tə/, US /ˈfɑː.stɚ/^[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English fostrien, fostren, inherited from Old English fōstrian (“to nourish, feed”),^[2][3][4] from fōstor (“food, nourishment, bringing up”),^[3][2][4][5] from Proto-Germanic *fōstrą,^[3] from the same Germanic source as food,^[2][4][6] from an extended form of the PIE root Proto-Indo-European *pa- (“to feed”).^[3] Old Norse fóstr “bringing up” and fóstra “to bring up” are cognates.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

To supply with food or nourishment: before 1050 in the OED, while Barnhart dates fostrien to about 1125, with an Old English form probably to be assumed.^[7][2]

Semantic evolution

To bring up a child with parental care is from about 1205 in the OED and about 1200 in Etymonline,^[7][3] and to encourage or help grow, of things, from the early 13th century,^[3] of feelings and ideas from the 1560s;^[3] Barnhart has the figurative sense, to encourage, in a version of Piers Plowman about 1378.^[2] The adjective sense, in the same family but not related by birth, goes back to Old English compounds such as fōstorfæder (before 800), fōstorcild and fōstormōdor.^[3][2][4] In British English, to foster a child is to place it in the care of foster parents.^[8] In Scots and Lancashire dialect, a foster was an adopted child.^[9]

Timeline

• before 800 – fōstorfæder, foster father.^[2]
• before 1050 – to nourish.^[7]
• c. 1205 – to bring up a child.^[7]
• early 13th century – to encourage the growth of.^[3]
• 1560s – to cherish feelings, ideas.^[3]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To encourage the growth or development of; to promote: foster good relations.
2. To bring up a child who is not one's own, for a time and without adopting it.
3. To keep a hope or plan in one's mind; to cherish.

Adjective

1. Giving or receiving parental care without legal or blood ties: foster parents, a foster child.

Word family

• fosterer
• fosteringly
• fosterage
• fosterling
• unfostered
• foster brother
• foster care
• foster child

Related words

• food
• fodder
• feed
• forage

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
9. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)