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Foster

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foster¹

  • /ˈfɒstə/ Canada, Northern England, UK, Wales
  • /ˈfɔstə/ Australia, British, Southern, Standard
  • /ˈfɔstɚ/
  • /ˈfɑstɚ/ cot caught merger
  • /ˈfɔstəɾ/ Scotland
  • /ˈfɒstə/ New Zealand
  • [ˈfɔ̟stə] ~ [ˈfɞ̠stə] New Zealand

Rhymes with -ɒstə(ɹ), -ɔːstə(ɹ)

Where it comes from

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”).

adjective

  1. not comparable Providing parental care to children not related to oneself. foster parents
  2. not comparable Receiving such care. a foster child
  3. not comparable Related by such care. We are a foster family.

noun fosters

  1. countable, informal A foster parent. Some fosters end up adopting.
  2. uncountable The care given to another; guardianship.

verb fosters · fostering · fostered

  1. transitive To nurture or bring up offspring, or to provide similar parental care to an unrelated child. Some ſay that Rauens foſter forlorne children, / The whilſt their owne birds famiſh in their neſts: / Oh be to me though thy hard hart ſay no, / Nothing ſo kinde but ſomething pittiful.
  2. transitive To promote the development of something; to cultivate and grow a thing. Our company fosters an appreciation for the arts.
  3. transitive To nurse or cherish something.
  4. intransitive, obsolete To be nurtured or trained up together. There Florimell, in her first ages flowre, And passing beautie did eftsoones reveale, Was fostered by those Graces

foster²

  • /ˈfɒstə/ Canada, Northern England, UK, Wales
  • /ˈfɔstə/ Australia, British, Southern, Standard
  • /ˈfɔstɚ/
  • /ˈfɑstɚ/ cot caught merger
  • /ˈfɔstəɾ/ Scotland
  • /ˈfɒstə/ New Zealand
  • [ˈfɔ̟stə] ~ [ˈfɞ̠stə] New Zealand

Rhymes with -ɒstə(ɹ), -ɔːstə(ɹ)

noun fosters

  1. obsolete A forester. A griesly Foster forth did rush.

Foster³

Rhymes with -ɒstə(ɹ)

Where it comes from

English surname, reduced from Forster; also from the noun foster.

proper noun Fosters

  1. countable, uncountable An English surname originating as an occupation, variant of Forster. The Mets got that four-run cushion in the seventh when George Foster stepped in as a pinch-hitter and hit a two-run homer for the 5-1 final.
  2. countable, uncountable A male given name transferred from the surname.
  3. countable, uncountable A former settlement in San Diego County, California.
  4. countable, uncountable An unincorporated community in Warren County, Indiana.
  5. countable, uncountable An unincorporated community in Bracken County, Kentucky.
  6. countable, uncountable A township and unincorporated community therein, in Big Stone County, Minnesota.
  7. countable, uncountable A village in Bates County, Missouri; named for Ohio governor Charles Foster.
  8. countable, uncountable A village in Pierce County, Nebraska; named for George Foster, original owner of town's site.
  9. countable, uncountable A town in Garvin County, Oklahoma.
  10. countable, uncountable An unincorporated community partly in Sweet Home, Linn County, Oregon.
  11. countable, uncountable A town in Providence County, Rhode Island; named for Rhode Island statesman Theodore Foster.
  12. countable, uncountable A town in Clark County, Wisconsin.
  13. countable, uncountable An unincorporated community in the town of Clear Creek, Eau Claire County, Wisconsin.
  14. countable, uncountable A number of other townships, including in Illinois (2), Michigan, Minnesota (1 more), Pennsylvania (3), and South Dakota, listed under Foster Township.
  15. countable, uncountable A village in the town of Brome Lake, Brome-Missisquoi Regional County Municipality, southern Quebec, Canada.
  16. countable, uncountable A town in South Gippsland Shire, south-east Victoria, Australia.
  17. abbreviation, countable, ellipsis, uncountable Ellipsis of Foster County.Foster County

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