foster

adj

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”).

1. Providing parental care to children not related to oneself.

   “foster parents”

2. Receiving such care.

   “a foster child”

3. Related by such care.

   “We are a foster family.”

name

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

1. 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. A male given name transferred from the surname.
3. A placename
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noun

1. A forester.

   “A griesly Foster forth did rush.”

verb

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”).

1. 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. To promote the development of something; to cultivate and grow a thing.

   “Our company fosters an appreciation for the arts.”

   “⁠A flower beat with rain and wind, Which once she foster’d up with care”

3. To nurse or cherish something.
4. 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”