foster

Meaning

Adj

1. (not-comparable) Providing parental care to children not related to oneself.
2. (not-comparable) Receiving such care.
3. (not-comparable) Related by such care.

Noun

1. (countable, informal) A foster parent.
2. (uncountable) The care given to another; guardianship.

Verb

1. (transitive) To nurture or bring up offspring, or to provide similar parental care to an unrelated child.
2. (transitive) To promote the development of something; to cultivate and grow a thing.
3. (transitive) To nurse or cherish something.
4. (intransitive, obsolete) To be nurtured or trained up together.

Noun

A forester.

Synonyms

nurture

nourish

bring up

encourage

rear

cherish

raise

cultivate

promote

support

adopt

further

feed

provide for

sustain

nurse

look after

care for

advance

surrogate

prop up

breed

adoptive

attend

adopted

take care of

develop

increase

educate

maintain

teach

tend

train

🚋

urge

feed up

feel deeply

bring up carefully

abet

che-rish

advantage

augment

back up

benefit

boost

conduce

educational

elevate

embolden

entertain

favor

Translations

pflegen

élever

encourager

adoptif

nourrir

adoptivo

nutrir

ανατρέφω

beslemek

orchestrare

favoriser

mezin kirin

promouvoir

ernähren

nähren

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈfɒstə/

Etymology

Cognate with Middle Dutch: voester

Cognate with Middle Low German: voster

Cognate with Old Norse: fóstr

Cognate with Danish: foster

Cognate with Swedish: foster

In summary

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”).