Standard Lemma guide

fosterage

noun · 6 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

noun

Meaning 1

The act of fostering another's child as if it were one's own.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

The act of caring for another human being or animal.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Examples

  • 1660, Robert May, The Accomplisht Cook, London: Obadiah Blagrave, 5th edition, 1685, I do acknowledg my self not to be a little beholding to the Italian and Spanish Treatises; though without my fosterage, and bringing up under the Generosities and Bounties of my Noble Patrons and Masters, I could never have arrived to this Experience.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

The condition of being the foster child.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

The act of promoting or encouraging something.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Examples

  • 1945, United States Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation, Insuring Proper Land Use, Columbia Basin Joint Investigations, Problem 3, Chapter 3, p. 13, Markets are not developed overnight and basic to the success of any marketing program is fosterage of a land use program that assures a permanent agriculture.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

helping someone grow up to be an accepted member of the community

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • they debated whether nature or nurture was more important

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: breeding, bringing up, fostering, nurture, raising, rearing, upbringing

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: socialization, socialisation, acculturation, enculturation

6

noun

Meaning 6

encouragement; aiding the development of something

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: fostering

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: encouragement

History

Etymology

Etymology tree English foster Proto-Indo-European *-h2 Proto-Indo-European *-éh2 Proto-Indo-European *-tós Proto-Indo-European *-eh2tos Proto-Italic *-ātos Latin -ātus Proto-Indo-European *-ikos Proto-Italic *-ikos Latin -icus Latin -āticus Latin -āticum Old French -agebor. Middle English -age English -age English fosterage From foster + -age.

Across languages

Translations

15 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Faroese: fostur — an act of fostering
  • Irish: daltachas — an act of fostering
  • Irish: altram — an act of fostering
  • Irish: altramas — an act of fostering
  • Irish: altramú — an act of fostering
  • Middle Irish: daltacht — an act of fostering
  • Old Irish: daltus — an act of fostering
  • Manx: doltaghys — an act of fostering
  • Romanian: adoptivitate — an act of fostering
  • Romanian: creșterea unui copil adoptiv — an act of fostering
  • Romanian: tutelă — an act of fostering
  • Scottish Gaelic: daltachd — an act of fostering
  • French: fosterage — being a foster child
  • Irish: daltachas — being a foster child
  • Old Irish: daltus — being a foster child