English Explanatory Dictionary

foster

English dictionary entry

Meanings

adj
  1. Providing parental care to children not related to oneself.
  2. Receiving such care.
  3. Related by such care.
noun
  1. A foster parent.
  2. The care given to another; guardianship.
verb
  1. To nurture or bring up offspring, or to provide similar parental care to an unrelated child.
  2. To promote the development of something; to cultivate and grow a thing.
  3. To nurse or cherish something.
  4. To be nurtured or trained up together.
noun
  1. A forester.
name
  1. An English surname originating as an occupation, variant of Forster.
  2. A male given name transferred from the surname.
  3. A placename
  4. A number of places in the United States:
  5. A former settlement in San Diego County, California.
  6. An unincorporated community in Warren County, Indiana.
  7. An unincorporated community in Bracken County, Kentucky.
  8. A township and unincorporated community therein, in Big Stone County, Minnesota.
  9. A village in Bates County, Missouri; named for Ohio governor Charles Foster.
  10. A village in Pierce County, Nebraska; named for George Foster, original owner of town's site.
  11. A town in Garvin County, Oklahoma.
  12. An unincorporated community partly in Sweet Home, Linn County, Oregon.

Pronunciation

/ˈfɒs.tə/ /ˈfɔ.stɚ/ /ˈfɑ.stɚ/ en-us-foster.ogg /ˈfɔs.tə/ en-au-foster.ogg [ˈfɔ̟s.tə]

Word forms

foster fosters fostering fostered

Etymology

From Middle English foster, from Old English fōstor (“food, sustenance”), from Proto-West Germanic *fōstr, from Proto-Germanic *fōstrą (“nourishment, food”). Cognate with Middle Dutch voester (“nursemaid”), Middle Low German vôster (“food”), Old Norse fóstr (“nurturing, education, alimony, child support”), Danish foster (“fetus”), Swedish foster (“fetus”).

Antonyms

hamper

Derived words

fosteress fostership cofostered cross-foster fosterable fosterage foster brother foster care foster-child foster child fosterer foster fail foster family foster father foster home fosterhood fostering fosteringly fosterling fosterment foster mother foster parent foster sibling foster sister foster up nonfostered unfostered Foster County Foster Kennedy syndrome Foster North Mount Foster pseudo-Foster Kennedy syndrome G. Rapids
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