foment

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foment

incite; instigate rebellion: to foment a riot.

Not to be confused with:

ferment – agitation; unrest; excitement: The city was in the grip of political ferment.

fo·ment

(fō-mĕnt′)

tr.v. fo·ment·ed, fo·ment·ing, fo·ments

1. To arouse or incite (trouble, for example).

2. To treat (the skin, for example) by fomentation.

[Middle English fomenten, to apply warm liquids to the skin, from Old French fomenter, from Late Latin fōmentāre, from Latin fōmentum, poultice, from fovēre, to warm; see dheg^wh- in Indo-European roots.]

fo·ment′er n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

foment

(fəˈmɛnt)

vb (tr)

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

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

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

fomentation n

foˈmenter n

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 and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

fo•ment

(foʊˈmɛnt)

v.t.

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

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

[1350–1400; Middle English < Late Latin, v. derivative of Latin fōmentum soothing application]

fo•ment′er, n.

foment

Past participle: fomented
Gerund: fomenting

Imperative
foment
foment

Present
I foment
you foment
he/she/it foments
we foment
you foment
they foment

Preterite
I fomented
you fomented
he/she/it fomented
we fomented
you fomented
they fomented

Present Continuous
I am fomenting
you are fomenting
he/she/it is fomenting
we are fomenting
you are fomenting
they are fomenting

Present Perfect
I have fomented
you have fomented
he/she/it has fomented
we have fomented
you have fomented
they have fomented

Past Continuous
I was fomenting
you were fomenting
he/she/it was fomenting
we were fomenting
you were fomenting
they were fomenting

Past Perfect
I had fomented
you had fomented
he/she/it had fomented
we had fomented
you had fomented
they had fomented

Future
I will foment
you will foment
he/she/it will foment
we will foment
you will foment
they will foment

Future Perfect
I will have fomented
you will have fomented
he/she/it will have fomented
we will have fomented
you will have fomented
they will have fomented

Future Continuous
I will be fomenting
you will be fomenting
he/she/it will be fomenting
we will be fomenting
you will be fomenting
they will be fomenting

Present Perfect Continuous
I have been fomenting
you have been fomenting
he/she/it has been fomenting
we have been fomenting
you have been fomenting
they have been fomenting

Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been fomenting
you will have been fomenting
he/she/it will have been fomenting
we will have been fomenting
you will have been fomenting
they will have been fomenting

Past Perfect Continuous
I had been fomenting
you had been fomenting
he/she/it had been fomenting
we had been fomenting
you had been fomenting
they had been fomenting

Conditional
I would foment
you would foment
he/she/it would foment
we would foment
you would foment
they would foment

Past Conditional
I would have fomented
you would have fomented
he/she/it would have fomented
we would have fomented
you would have fomented
they would have fomented

Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Switch to new thesaurus

Verb	1.	foment - try to stir up public opinion agitate, stir up provoke, stimulate - provide the needed stimulus for rumpus - cause a disturbance
	2.	foment - bathe with warm water or medicated lotions; "His legs should be fomented" bath, bathe - clean one's body by immersion into water; "The child should bathe every day"

foment

verb stir up, raise, encourage, promote, excite, spur, foster, stimulate, provoke, brew, arouse, rouse, agitate, quicken, incite, instigate, whip up, goad, abet, sow the seeds of, fan the flames They accused strike leaders of fomenting violence.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

foment

verb

To stir to action or feeling:

egg on, excite, galvanize, goad, impel, incite, inflame, inspire, instigate, motivate, move, pique, prick, prod, prompt, propel, provoke, set off, spur, stimulate, touch off, trigger, work up.

Translations

беспорядок класть побуждать подстрекать примочки

foment

[fəʊˈment] VT (frm) (also Med) → fomentar; [+ revolt, violence] → provocar, instigar a

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

foment

[fəʊˈmɛnt] vt [+ trouble, violence] → fomenter

foment

vt trouble, discord → schüren; (Med) → mit feuchten Umschlägen behandeln

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

foment

[fəˈmɛnt] vt (frm) (trouble, discord, revolution) → fomentare (Med) → applicare impacchi caldi

References in classic literature ?

You are still young--you might be the youngest of my own children--still you have spoken wisely and have counselled the chief of the Achaeans not without discretion; nevertheless I am older than you and I will tell you everything; therefore let no man, not even King Agamemnon, disregard my saying, for he that foments civil discord is a clanless, hearthless outlaw.

View in context

In Poland they support the party that insists on an agrarian revolution as the prime condition for national emancipation, that party which fomented the insurrection of Cracow in 1846.

View in context

Then the wretched rabble of the Isosceles, planless and leaderless, are either transfixed without resistance by the small body of their brethren whom the Chief Circle keeps in pay for emergencies of this kind; or else more often, by means of jealousies and suspicions skilfully fomented among them by the Circular party, they are stirred to mutual warfare, and perish by one another's angles.

View in context

These civil commotions were constantly fomented by the monarchs of Blefuscu; and when they were quelled, the exiles always fled for refuge to that empire.

View in context

Hunt and his associates to the perfidious instigations of Rose the interpreter, whom they suspected of the desire to foment ill-will between them and the savages, for the promotion of his nefarious plans.