## Meanings
1. To encourage the development or growth of something.
2. To take care of a child as a parent for a time, without being its legal parent.
3. Giving or receiving parental care without being related by blood.

## Examples
- Our company fosters an appreciation for the arts.
- They decided to foster a child while waiting to adopt.
- His foster parents raised him from the age of five.

## Antonyms
- hamper

## Derived Forms
- cofostered
- cross-foster
- foster-child
- fosterable
- fosterage
- fosterer
- fosteress
- fosterhood
- fostering
- fosteringly
- fosterling
- fosterment

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *peh₂-
- Root: foster
- Root: fostor
- Root: *fōstr
- Root: *fōstrą

## Etymology
From Middle English foster, from Old English fōstor (“food, sustenance”), from Proto-West Germanic *fōstr, from Proto-Germanic *fōstrą (“nourishment, food”). Cognate with Middle Dutch voester (“nursemaid”), Middle Low German vôster (“food”), Old Norse fóstr (“nurturing, education, alimony, child support”), Danish foster (“fetus”), Swedish foster (“fetus”).

## AI Etymology
Foster comes from Middle English foster, from Old English fōstor (“food, sustenance”), from Proto-West Germanic *fōstr, from Proto-Germanic *fōstrą (“nourishment, food”). Cognate with Middle Dutch voester (“nursemaid”), Middle Low German vôster (“food”), Old Norse fóstr (“nurturing, education, alimony, child support”), Danish foster (“fetus”), Swedish foster (“fetus”). The historical chain includes *peh₂- (Proto-Indo-European), foster (Middle English), fostor (Old English), *fōstr (Proto-West Germanic), and *fōstrą (Proto-Germanic). The surrounding word family includes derived forms such as cofostered, cross-foster, foster-child, and fosterable. In present use it covers to encourage the development or growth of something, to take care of a child as a parent for a time, without being its legal parent, and giving or receiving parental care without being related by blood.

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