Etymology

foster

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Today it means: Providing parental care to children not related to oneself. Full definition →

Middle English foster ← Old English fōstor ← Proto-West Germanic *fōstr
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foster · adjective, noun, verb1

  1. Proto-Germanic · derived from*fōstrą“nourishment, food”
  2. Proto-West Germanic · derived from*fōstr
  3. Old English · derived fromfōstor“food, sustenance”
  4. Middle English · derived fromfoster
  5. English todayfoster

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”).

Foster · proper noun2

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

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.