TOP

Definition of foment verb from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

foment

verb
 
/fəˈment/
 
/fəʊˈment/
(formal)
Verb Forms
present simple I / you / we / they foment
 
/fəˈment/
 
/fəʊˈment/
he / she / it foments
 
/fəˈments/
 
/fəʊˈments/
past simple fomented
 
/fəˈmentɪd/
 
/fəʊˈmentɪd/
past participle fomented
 
/fəˈmentɪd/
 
/fəʊˈmentɪd/
-ing form fomenting
 
/fəˈmentɪŋ/
 
/fəʊˈmentɪŋ/
jump to other results
  1. foment something to create trouble or violence or make it worse synonym incite
    • They accused him of fomenting political unrest.
    Topics War and conflictc2
    Oxford Collocations DictionaryFoment is used with these nouns as the object:
    • coup
    • rebellion
    • revolution
    See full entry
    Word Originlate Middle English (originally meaning to bathe with warm or medicated lotions): from French fomenter, from late Latin fomentare, from Latin fomentum ‘poultice, lotion’, from fovere ‘to heat, cherish’.
See foment in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary
generic
adjective
 
 
From the Word list
Oxford 5000
C1
Oxford Learner's Dictionaries Word of the Day