Topic: Foster

We would guess most moderns think of foster care in terms of nurturing and promoting growth and development. But foster—which derives from an Old English word meaning "food"—has actually enjoyed a number of applications over the centuries.

In Old English, the noun foster named a "foster parent;" in Scottish English, foster names a "foster child;" and until the late 17th century, a foster was a "forester."

Most of us moderns are probably more familiar with the verb foster. Shakespeare used foster in a now obsolete sense meaning "to supply with food or nourishment;" until the late 16th century, foster also meant "to teach or train (in something)." And for a long time, foster had the sense "to bring up with parental care." That last meaning is long gone; fostering a child now refers to "bringing up another person's, not one's own, child."

Fostering has other still current senses too. It can mean "to keep warm," as when Oliver Goldsmith bemoaned "what a viper have I been fostering in my bosom," and it can mean "promote and sustain; encourage; cultivate," as when a person is honored for his or her work fostering the arts among underprivileged children.

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