Foster

Part of speech: verb, noun

Pronunciation: /ˈfɒs.tə/

Definitions

1. To promote the growth or development of something, or to provide temporary care for a child in one's home
2. To encourage or support the advancement or progress of something ; to raise or care for a child not one's own, usually temporarily
3. To nurture or assist in the growth of ideas, skills, or relationships ; to act as a temporary guardian or caretaker for a child outside of their biological family

Etymology: The most surprising thing about "foster" is that its oldest sense was about food rather than people. In Old English, "fōstor" meant "food" or "sustenance," and the verb grew from that idea of feeding and nourishing. Someone who fostered a child was, in essence, providing that child with nourishment, and the word's early life centred on keeping someone alive. The same root travelled across the North Sea and into Scandinavia, where Old Norse "fóstr" covered nurturing, education, and even child support. Its relatives in Middle Dutch and Middle Low German similarly meant "nursemaid" or "food," and modern Danish and Swedish "foster" still means "fetus," a reminder of how closely the word once tied care to the growing body. From that physical base of feeding came the broader sense of nurturing, and eventually the modern meaning "encourage growth." Caring for a child's body gradually extended to caring for a talent, a cause, or an idea, so that to foster now means to help something develop over time.

Synonyms: nurture, cultivate, encourage, support, promote

Antonyms: neglect, abandon, hinder, discourage, oppose