foment

[foh-ment]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR foment ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object)

to instigate or foster (discord, rebellion, etc.); promote the growth or development of: to foment trouble; to foment discontent.

to apply warm water or medicated liquid, ointments, etc., to (the surface of the body).

Origin of foment

1350–1400; Middle English fomenten < Late Latin fōmentāre, verbal derivative of Latin fōmentum soothing application, poultice, contraction of *fōvimentum, equivalent to fōv(ēre) to keep warm + -i- -i- + -mentum -ment

Related formsfo·ment·er, nounun·fo·ment·ed, adjective

Can be confusedferment foment

Synonyms for foment

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR foment ON THESAURUS.COM

1. incite, provoke, arouse, inflame, excite, stir up; encourage, stimulate.

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

Examples from the Web for foment

Contemporary Examples of foment

Given all of this, Iran is apparently disinclined to foment a political rebellion against Maliki among the Shia.
How Iran and America Can Beat ISIS Together
Ben Van Heuvelen
June 21, 2014
They can exacerbate splits within a ruling leadership, foment popular unrest, or expedite a dwindling current account.
Why Aren’t Sanctions Stopping Putin?
Meghan L. O’Sullivan
May 13, 2014
The Cubans claim Gross was a spy who was trying to foment revolution.
Raul Castro Reaches Out to Obama, But Don’t Call It a Thaw
Eli Lake, Josh Rogin
December 11, 2013
We tried to foment one against Hamas after it won democratic elections among the Palestinians in 2006.
What Obama Should Have Said
Peter Beinart
August 15, 2013
He advocates instead quiet support for Iranian opposition groups that could foment regime change.
Israel’s Top Iran Expert: You Can’t Out-Negotiate the Mullahs
Dan Ephron
October 22, 2012

Historical Examples of foment

There is one thing that would ease the pain and heal the leg all the sooner, and that is plenty of hot water to foment the part.
Heroines That Every Child Should Know
Various
The Civil Guard can keep us from rogues, but they foment dissensions and cause the ruin of the country.
The Grandee
Armando Palacio Valds
He said that these counterfeits were being spent largely by Germans to foment Bolshevist propaganda.
The Story of The American Legion
George Seay Wheat
You have excited this rebellious temper among your flocks, and now you foment it.
The History of England from the Accession of James II.
Thomas Babington Macaulay
They preach emigration, they send coin from the realm, they foment conspiracies against us from within and without.
History of the Girondists, Volume I
Alphonse de Lamartine

British Dictionary definitions for foment

foment

verb (tr)

to encourage or instigate (trouble, discord, etc); stir up

med to apply heat and moisture to (a part of the body) to relieve pain and inflammation

Derived Formsfomentation (ˌfəʊmɛnˈteɪʃən), nounfomenter, noun

Word Origin for foment

C15: from Late Latin fōmentāre, from Latin fōmentum a poultice, ultimately from fovēre to foster

usage

Both foment and ferment can be used to talk about stirring up trouble: he was accused of fomenting/fermenting unrest . Only ferment can be used intransitively or as a noun: his anger continued to ferment (not foment); rural areas were unaffected by the ferment in the cities

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 foment

early 15c., "apply hot liquids," from Old French fomenter (13c.) "apply hot compress (to a wound)," from Late Latin fomentare, from Latin fomentum "warm application, poultice," contraction of *fovimentum, from fovere "to warm; cherish, encourage" (see fever). Extended sense of "stimulate, instigate" (1620s) was in the French. Related: Fomented; fomenting.