Definition

1. Verb:

   • To help the development or growth of something; to encourage or promote: This is the primary meaning, referring to actively supporting the advancement of an idea, feeling, skill, or environment.
   • To bring up a child that is not one's own by birth, typically for a limited time: This meaning refers to providing parental care and a home for a child without adopting them.

2. Adjective:

   • Denoting a relationship involving the care and upbringing of a child by someone not their biological or legal parent: Used to describe the family, home, or parent in such a caring arrangement.

Usage and Examples

• Verb (to promote development):

  • The teacher's goal is to foster a love of learning in her students.
  • The new policy aims to foster innovation within the company.
  • Good communication fosters trust in a relationship.

• Verb (to care for a child):

  • They decided to foster two children while their parents were unable to care for them.
  • Many families open their homes to foster teenagers in need.

• Adjective (describing a care relationship):

  • She grew up with her foster parents from the age of five.
  • The child was placed in a foster home.

Advanced Usage and Nuances

• Foster as a verb often implies a temporary, nurturing, or facilitating role rather than a permanent or creating one. One fosters growth, an atmosphere, or a child's well-being for a period.
• The adjective foster is almost exclusively used in the context of child-rearing and family relationships (e.g., foster child, foster family). It is not typically used as a general adjective like "supportive."

Variants and Related Words

• Fosterage (noun): The act of fostering a child; the system or state of being in foster care. (Less common in modern usage.)
• Fostering (noun/gerund): The action of fostering.

Synonyms

• Verb (promote): Encourage, nurture, stimulate, promote, cultivate, advance.
• Verb (care for): Raise, rear, bring up, care for, look after.
• Adjective: Surrogate.

Antonyms

• Verb (promote): Neglect, hinder, stifle, discourage, suppress.
• Verb (care for): Abandon, neglect.

Common Collocations and Phrases

• Foster care: The system or state of being raised by foster parents.
• Foster parent/father/mother: An adult who temporarily acts as a parent to a child not their own.
• Foster child: A child being raised by foster parents.
• Foster home: The family home where a foster child lives.
• To foster cooperation/growth/understanding: Common verb-noun pairings emphasizing development.

Adjective

1. providing or receiving nurture or parental care though not related by blood or legal ties
   • foster parent
   • foster child
   • foster home
   • surrogate father

Verb

1. help develop, help grow
   • nurture his talents
2. bring up under fosterage; of children
3. promote the growth of
   • Foster our children's well-being and education

Noun

1. United States songwriter whose songs embody the sentiment of the South before the American Civil War (1826-1864)