Meanings
present singular third person foments · participle present fomenting · participle past fomented · past fomented
- transitiveTo incite or cause troublesome acts; to encourage; to instigate.
Foreign governments have tried to foment unrest.
5 more examples
He was arrested for fomenting a riot; after all, it's bad enough being in a riot but starting one is much worse.
The factor which had caused the militant five per cent to relax awhile from fomenting discord was the satellites. Sustained research in rocketry had at last succeeded in attaining one of its objectives. It had sent up a missile which stayed up.
1951, John Wyndham, The Day of the Triffids, Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, published 1954, page 28Blogjects always have some form of agency — they can foment action and participate; they have an assertive voice within the social web.
2006 March 14, Roland Piquepaille, “The new world of 'blogjects'”, in ZDNET, archived from the original on 26 Sep 2023Boris Johnson and senior Conservative ministers have vigorously condemned the violence in Washington, but have largely steered clear of condemning Trump for fomenting it.
2021 January 7, Peter Walker, “Tories urged to suspend politicians who likened US violence to anti-Brexit protests”, in The Guardian“Indignation foments extreme behaviour,” the director says of a film he believes will leave audiences wondering: “How far will people go as a result of their anger?”
2023 September 11, Tom Phillips, “‘A Brazilian 9/11’: film tells little-known story of failed 1988 hijacking”, in The GuardianSynonyms: bring about, provoke, abet, actuate, goose, fuel, light a fire under, send
- transitivemedicineTo apply a poultice to; to bathe with a cloth or sponge.
The maid had entered with us, and began once more to foment the bruise upon her mistress's brow.
1904, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Adventure of the Abbey Grange, Norton, published 2005, page 11781 more example
Sties in the eye are irritating and disfiguring. Foment with warm water; at night apply a bread-and-milk poultice.
1876, Eliza Bisbee Duffey, Our Behaviour: A Manual of Etiquette and Dress of the Best American Society, Philadelphia
plural foments
- Fomentation.
He came in no conciliatory mood, and the foment was kept up.
1892, Julian Ralph, On Canada's Frontier
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo incite or cause troublesome acts; to encourage; to instigate.
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinfōmentum“lotion”
- Late Latinfōmentāre
- Old Frenchfomenter
- Middle Englishfomenten
- Englishfoment
From Middle English fomenten, a borrowing from Old French fomenter, from Late Latin fōmentāre, from Latin fōmentum (“lotion”), from fovēre (“heat, cherish”).
More words from Middle English, Old French, Late Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Chinese Cantonese 煽動 /煽动
- 煽動 /煽动to incite or cause
Chinese Mandarin 煽動 /煽动, 敷藥 /敷药
- 煽動 /煽动 (shāndòng)to incite or cause
- 敷藥 /敷药 (fūyào)(medicine) to apply a poultice to
Finnish lietsoa, hautoa
- lietsoato incite or cause
- hautoa(medicine) to apply a poultice to
French fomenter
- fomenterto incite or cause
German fördern
- fördernto incite or cause
Hebrew עודד, חרחר
- עודד (odéd)to incite or cause
- חרחר (khirkhér)to incite or cause
Hungarian szít, borogat
- szítto incite or cause
- borogat(medicine) to apply a poultice to
Icelandic leggja bakstur við
- leggja bakstur við(medicine) to apply a poultice to
Italian fomentare
- fomentareto incite or cause
Japanese 醸成する, 胎動する
- 醸成する (jōsei suru)to incite or cause
- 胎動する (taidō suru)to incite or cause
Latin fōmentō
- fōmentō(medicine) to apply a poultice to
Norwegian fyre opp under
- fyre opp underto incite or cause
Polish wzniecać, wzniecić
- wzniecaćto incite or cause
- wzniecićto incite or cause
- podżegaćto incite or cause
- podżegnąćto incite or cause
- przykładać ciepłe okłady(medicine) to apply a poultice to
- przyłożyć ciepłe okłady(medicine) to apply a poultice to
Portuguese fomentar
- fomentarto incite or cause
Russian провоци́ровать, побужда́ть
- провоци́ровать (provocírovatʹ)to incite or cause
- побужда́ть (pobuždátʹ)to incite or cause
- подстрека́ть (podstrekátʹ)to incite or cause
- разжига́ть (razžigátʹ)to incite or cause
- класть примо́чки и́ли припа́рки (klastʹ primóčki íli pripárki)(medicine) to apply a poultice to
Spanish fomentar, fomentar
- fomentarto incite or cause
- fomentar(medicine) to apply a poultice to
Swedish instigera, underblåsa
- instigerato incite or cause
- underblåsato incite or cause
- närato incite or cause
- befordrato incite or cause
- badda(medicine) to apply a poultice to
Ukrainian розпа́лювати, розпали́ти
- розпа́лювати (rozpáljuvaty)to incite or cause
- розпали́ти (rozpalýty)to incite or cause
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with foment
Sounds the same
Cite this entry
foment. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/foment
“foment.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/foment. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “foment,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/foment.
Source: foment on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.