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Foster
Definitions
- 1 Providing parental care to children not related to oneself. not-comparable
"foster parents"
- 2 Receiving such care. not-comparable
"a foster child"
- 3 Related by such care. not-comparable
"We are a foster family."
- 1 providing or receiving nurture or parental care though not related by blood or legal ties wordnet
- 1 An English surname originating as an occupation, variant of Forster. countable, uncountable
"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. countable, uncountable
- 3 A placename; A number of places in the United States:; A former settlement in San Diego County, California. countable, uncountable
- 4 A placename; A number of places in the United States:; An unincorporated community in Warren County, Indiana. countable, uncountable
- 5 A placename; A number of places in the United States:; An unincorporated community in Bracken County, Kentucky. countable, uncountable
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- 6 A placename; A number of places in the United States:; A township and unincorporated community therein, in Big Stone County, Minnesota. countable, uncountable
- 7 A placename; A number of places in the United States:; A village in Bates County, Missouri; named for Ohio governor Charles Foster. countable, uncountable
- 8 A placename; A number of places in the United States:; A village in Pierce County, Nebraska; named for George Foster, original owner of town's site. countable, uncountable
- 9 A placename; A number of places in the United States:; A town in Garvin County, Oklahoma. countable, uncountable
- 10 A placename; A number of places in the United States:; An unincorporated community partly in Sweet Home, Linn County, Oregon. countable, uncountable
- 11 A placename; A number of places in the United States:; A town in Providence County, Rhode Island; named for Rhode Island statesman Theodore Foster. countable, uncountable
- 12 A placename; A number of places in the United States:; A town in Clark County, Wisconsin. countable, uncountable
- 13 A placename; A number of places in the United States:; An unincorporated community in Clear Creek, Eau Claire County, Wisconsin. countable, uncountable
- 14 A placename; A village in the town of Brome Lake, Brome-Missisquoi Regional County Municipality, southern Quebec, Canada. countable, uncountable
- 15 A placename; A town in South Gippsland Shire, south-east Victoria, Australia. countable, uncountable
- 16 A placename; Ellipsis of Foster County. abbreviation, alt-of, countable, ellipsis, uncountable
- 1 A foster parent. countable, informal
"Some fosters end up adopting."
- 2 A forester. obsolete
"A griesly Foster forth did rush."
- 3 The care given to another; guardianship. uncountable
- 1 To nurture or bring up offspring, or to provide similar parental care to an unrelated child. transitive
"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 help develop, help grow wordnet
- 3 To promote the development of something; to cultivate and grow a thing. transitive
"Our company fosters an appreciation for the arts."
- 4 bring up under fosterage; of children wordnet
- 5 To nurse or cherish something. transitive
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- 6 promote the growth of wordnet
- 7 To be nurtured or trained up together. intransitive, obsolete
"There Florimell, in her first ages flowre, And passing beautie did eftsoones reveale, Was fostered by those Graces"
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”).
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”).
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”).
English surname, reduced from Forster; also from the noun foster.
See also for "foster"
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