ferment

[ noun fur-ment; verb fer-ment ]

/ noun ˈfɜr mɛnt; verb fərˈmɛnt /

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noun

Also called organized ferment. any of a group of living organisms, as yeasts, molds, and certain bacteria, that cause fermentation.

Also called unorganized ferment. an enzyme.

fermentation.

agitation; unrest; excitement; commotion; tumult: The new painters worked in a creative ferment. The capital lived in a political ferment.

verb (used with object)

to act upon as a ferment.

to cause to undergo fermentation.

to inflame; foment: to ferment prejudiced crowds to riot.

to cause agitation or excitement in: Reading fermented his active imagination.

verb (used without object)

to be fermented; undergo fermentation.

to seethe with agitation or excitement.

Nearby words

fermat's last theorem, fermat's principle, fermat's theorem, fermat, pierre de, fermata, fermented, fermentation, fermentation alcohol, fermentation lock, fermentative, fermi

Origin of ferment

1350–1400; Middle English < Latin fermentum yeast (noun), fermentāre to cause to rise (v.); akin to barm, Latin fervēre to boil

Related forms

fer·ment·a·ble, adjectivefer·ment·a·bil·i·ty, nounnon·fer·ment·a·bil·i·ty, nounnon·fer·ment·a·ble, adjective

non·fer·ment·ed, adjectivenon·fer·ment·ing, adjectiveun·fer·ment·a·ble, adjectiveun·fer·ment·ed, adjectiveun·fer·ment·ing, adjectivewell-fer·ment·ed, adjective

Can be confusedferment foment

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for fermented

That means that Champagne is fermented a second time in the bottle when sealed closed, which naturally produces the bubbles.
Champagne: You’re Drinking It All Wrong|Kayleigh Kulp|December 20, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The malted barley, yeast, and water are cooked, fermented, and distilled exactly the same.
How Much Do Whisky Casks Really Affect Taste?||December 10, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Some of the most popular include Kriek (fermented with sour cherries), Framboise (raspberries), and Pêche (peaches).
Wine Snobs, There’s a Beer for You|Jordan Salcito|April 5, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Their partnership was fermented in the most unlikely of places.
New Site RYOT Combines Breaking News With Activism|Nina Strochlic|July 25, 2013|DAILY BEAST

That sugar juice is then fermented in a process nearly identical to that used to make rum.
How Wall Street Will Ruin the Environment|Robert Bryce|June 26, 2009|DAILY BEAST
Drink but little, or rather no distilled liquors; wine and fermented liquors are much to be preferred.
A Collection of Essays and Fugitiv Writings|Noah Webster
At intervals he abstained from all fermented liquors for a long time.
The Town|Leigh Hunt
It was on the action, both at a distance and by direct contact, of certain medicated or fermented substances on hypnotic subjects.
Buchanan's Journal of Man, November 1887|Various
In dyspepsia, heartburn, &c., arising from excessive indulgence in spirituous or fermented liquors.
Cooley's Practical Receipts, Volume II|Arnold Cooley
They also fermented it by mixing with water, and made their famous tis-win or whiskey from it.
Aw-Aw-Tam Indian Nights|J. William Lloyd

British Dictionary definitions for fermented

ferment

noun (ˈfɜːmɛnt)

any agent or substance, such as a bacterium, mould, yeast, or enzyme, that causes fermentation

another word for fermentation

commotion; unrest

verb (fəˈmɛnt)

to undergo or cause to undergo fermentation

to stir up or seethe with excitement

Derived Formsfermentable, adjectivefermentability, nounfermenter, noun

Word Origin for ferment

C15: from Latin fermentum yeast, from fervēre to seethe

xref

See foment

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for fermented (1 of 2)

ferment

early 15c., from Middle French ferment, from Latin fermentum (see ferment (v.)). Figurative sense of "anger, passion" is from 1670s.

Word Origin and History for fermented (1 of 2)

ferment

late 14c., from Old French fermenter (13c.) and directly from Latin fermentare "to leaven, ferment," from fermentum "substance causing fermentation, leaven," from root of fervere "to boil, seethe" (see brew). Figurative use from 1650s. Related: Fermented; fermenting.

Medicine definitions for fermented

ferment

[ fûr′mĕnt′ ]

n.

An agent, as a yeast, bacterium, mold, or enzyme, that causes fermentation.

Fermentation.

v.

To cause or undergo fermentation.

ferment

noun

verb (used with object)

verb (used without object)

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RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of ferment

Examples from the Web for fermented

British Dictionary definitions for fermented

ferment

noun (ˈfɜːmɛnt)

verb (fəˈmɛnt)

Word Origin for ferment

xref

Word Origin and History for fermented (1 of 2)

ferment

Word Origin and History for fermented (1 of 2)

ferment

Medicine definitions for fermented

ferment

n.

v.