foment

English

WOTD – 25 June 2007

Etymology

From Middle English fomenten, a borrowing from Old French fomenter, from Late Latin fomentare, from Latin fōmentum (“lotion”), from fovere (“heat, cherish”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /fəʊˈmɛnt/
• (US) IPA^(key): /foʊˈmɛnt/, /fəˈmɛnt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛnt
• Homophone: ferment (in some dialects, unstressed)

Verb

foment (third-person singular simple present foments, present participle fomenting, simple past and past participle fomented)

1. (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.

2. (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

• fomentation

Translations

to incite or cause

• Arabic: please add this translation if you can
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 煽動／煽动 (sin³ dung⁶)

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Dutch: please add this translation if you can
• Esperanto: please add this translation if you can
• Finnish: lietsoa (fi)
• French: fomenter (fr)
• German: fördern (de)
• Hebrew: עודד (he) (odéd), חרחר (khirkhér)
• Hungarian: szít (hu)
• Italian: fomentare (it)
• Japanese: 醸成する (ja) (じょうせいする, jōsei suru), 胎動する (ja) (たいどうする, taidō suru)
• Korean: please add this translation if you can
• Norwegian: fyre opp under
• Portuguese: fomentar (pt)
• Russian: провоци́ровать (ru) (provocírovatʹ), побужда́ть (ru) (pobuždátʹ), подстрека́ть (ru) (podstrekátʹ), разжига́ть (ru) (razžigátʹ)
• Spanish: fomentar (es)
• Swedish: instigera, underblåsa (sv), nära (sv), befordra (sv)
• Thai: please add this translation if you can

(medicine) to apply a poultice to

• Hungarian: borogat (hu)
• Icelandic: leggja bakstur við (is)
• Ido: fomentar (io), stuvagar (io)
• Latin: fōmentō (Late Latin)
• Russian: класть примо́чки и́ли припа́рки (klastʹ primóčki íli pripárki)
• Spanish: fomentar (es)
• Swedish: badda (sv)

Noun

foment (plural foments)

1. Fomentation.
   • 1892, Julian Ralph, On Canada's Frontier:

     He came in no conciliatory mood, and the foment was kept up.

Catalan

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin fōmentum.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central) [fuˈmen]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic, Valencian) [foˈment]

Noun

foment m (plural foments)

1. promotion, fostering, fomentation

Related terms

• fomentar

Further reading

• “foment” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.