foment - Wiktionary, the free dictionary (original) (raw)

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

From Middle English fomenten, a borrowing from Old French fomenter,[1] from Late Latin fōmentāre, from Latin fōmentum (“lotion”), from fovēre (“heat, cherish”).

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.
    Synonyms: bring about, provoke; see also Thesaurus:incite
    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.
    • 1951, John Wyndham, The Day of the Triffids, Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, published 1954, page 28:
      The factor which had caused the militant five per cent to relax awhile from fomenting discord was the satellites. Sustained research in rocketry had at last succeeded in attaining one of its objectives. It had sent up a missile which stayed up.
    • 2006 March 14, Roland Piquepaille, “The new world of 'blogjects'”, in ZDNET‎[1], archived from the original on 26 September 2023:
      Blogjects always have some form of agency — they can foment action and participate; they have an assertive voice within the social web.
    • 2021 January 7, Peter Walker, “Tories urged to suspend politicians who likened US violence to anti-Brexit protests”, in The Guardian‎[2]:
      Boris Johnson and senior Conservative ministers have vigorously condemned the violence in Washington, but have largely steered clear of condemning Trump for fomenting it.
    • 2023 September 11, Tom Phillips, “‘A Brazilian 9/11’: film tells little-known story of failed 1988 hijacking”, in The Guardian‎[3]:
      “Indignation foments extreme behaviour,” the director says of a film he believes will leave audiences wondering: “How far will people go as a result of their anger?”
    • 2024 August 10, David Olusoga, “There can be no excuses. The UK riots were violent racism fomented by populism”, in The Guardian‎[4]:
      As figures like Warsi took to the TV and podcast studios the politicians who are normally most vocal when there are divisions to be fomented and culture wars to be fought went awol.
  2. (medicine, transitive) To apply a poultice to; to bathe with a cloth or sponge.
    Synonyms: beath, poultice
    • 1876, Eliza Bisbee Duffey, Our Behaviour: A Manual of Etiquette and Dress of the Best American Society, Philadelphia:
      Sties in the eye are irritating and disfiguring. Foment with warm water; at night apply a bread-and-milk poultice.
    • 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.

to incite or cause

foment (plural foments)

  1. Fomentation.

    • 1892, Julian Ralph, On Canada's Frontier:
      He came in no conciliatory mood, and the foment was kept up.

  2. ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2026), “foment (v.)”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

Learned borrowing from Latin fōmentum.

foment m (plural foments)

  1. promotion, fostering, fomentation