fosterage

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   the practice or process of raising another person's child as one's own, especially as a historical social custom

   The historian described fosterage as a way for neighboring clans to strengthen political bonds.

2. 2
   noun

   care, nurture, or upbringing supplied to a person or animal; rare

   She credited her aunt's patient fosterage with giving her confidence and discipline.

Formed from foster + -age. Foster descends from Old English fostor, 'food, nourishment, maintenance, or upbringing,' related to food. Fosterage therefore originally emphasized the sustained nurture and rearing of someone placed in another household.

Topics