| 释义 |
▪ I. foster, n.1 Obs. exc. in Comb.|ˈfɒstə(r)|
[OE. fóstor, str. neut. = ON. fóstr:—OTeut. *fôstrom, f. root *fôð- (see food) + instrumental suffix -tro-.]
1. Food, nourishment.
c1000Saxon Leechd. II. 198 Sio is blodes timber, & blodes hus, & fostor. c1230Hali Meid. 15 Ure licomes lust is he feondes foster.
Proverb.a1420Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 60 Styntyng the cause, th' effect styntethe eke, No lenger forster, no lenger lemman. 1670Ray Proverbs 94 No longer foster no longer friend.
2. Guardianship, keeping, fostering. at foster, at nurse (with a foster-parent).
c1460Towneley Myst. (Surtees) 320 Now shalle thai have rom in pyk and tar ever dwelland, Of thare sorow no some, bot ay to be yelland In oure fostre. 1861G. W. Dasent Burnt Njal II. 166 They had children out at foster there.
3. a. Offspring, progeny. b. One nourished or brought up; a foster-child, nursling. c. An animal of one's own breeding.
a.a1175Cott. Hom. 225 Ic ȝegaderi in-to ðe of diercynne and of fuȝel cynne simle ȝemacan, þat hi eft to fostre bien. a1225Leg. Kath. 451 Ant ti semliche schape schaweð wel þæt tu art freo monne foster. 13..E.E. Allit. P. B. 257 For hit was þe forme-foster þat þe folde bred. 1513Douglas æneis vi. xv. 86 Ne neuer, certis, the ground of the Romanis Of ony foster sall hym so avance.
b.c1205Lay. 25921 Eleine min aȝen uoster. 1585M. W. Commendat. Verses to Jas. I's Ess. Poesie (Arb.) 10 Lo heir the fructis, Nymphe, of thy foster faire.
c.1609Skene Reg. Maj. 108 This..beast..is my leill, lawfull, and hamehalde cattell, or my inborne foister, the quhilk was thifteouslie stollen fra me.
4. attrib. and Comb., as foster-home, foster-milk, foster-brother, -sister; foster-child, -son and synonymously foster-babe, foster-daughter. Also foster-father, -mother and in the synonyms foster-dam, † foster-mame (Sc.), foster-parent, foster-sire; hence in sense of ‘acting as a foster-mother or nurse’, foster-city, foster-earth.
1818Byron Ch. Har. iv. lxxxix, All thy *foster-babes are dead.
1618Bolton Florus iii. xviii. (1636) 228 All Etruria and Campania, finally Italy, rose joyntly in armes against the mother and *foster city.
1697Dryden æneid viii. 843 There, by the Wolf, were laid the Martial Twins..The *foster⁓Dam loll'd out her fawning Tongue.
c1616Webster Duch. Malfy ii. ii, Go, go, give your *foster-daughters good counsel.
1708J. Philips Cyder i. 9 The nursling Grove Seems fair awhile, cherish'd with *foster Earth.
1886Longm. Mag. VII. 647 *Foster-homes under the boarding-out system.
1606W. Birnie Kirk-Buriall (1833) 17 Superstition, the *foster mame of all error.
1582Bentley Mon. Matrones iii. 272 Like a louing mother, and tender nursse, giving my *foster⁓milke, the foode of thy word and Gospell, aboundantlie to all.
1649Jer. Taylor Gt. Exemp. 37 That little love which is abated from the *Foster-parents upon publick report that they are not natural. 1816Gentl. Mag. LXXXVI. i. 11 The Gentleman's Magazine being very justly considered as the foster-parent of English Topography.
1878M. A. Brown Nadeschda 16 Scarce had the beauteous maiden ceased When Miljutin, her kind *foster sire..approached.
Hence ˈfostership = fosterage.
1861A. H. Clington Frank O'Donnell 110 The tie of fostership is, or at least was, held as sacred as that of natural brothers.
▪ II. ˈfoster, n.2 Obs. exc. arch.
Also 1–3 fostre.
[OE. (cild-) fóstre wk. fem., nurse, = MDu. voester (also voetster, mod.Du. voedster), ON. fóstra:—OTeut. *fôstrôn-, f. *fôstr-om: see prec. ON. had fóstre wk. masc., foster-father, of similar formation.
In the sole recorded OE. instance, a variant reading is cild féstre, which is prob. a genuine form:—prehistoric *fôdistra, f. root of food + fem. agent-suffix -istrôn, -ster.]
A foster-parent, nurse.
a1000Laws of Ine lxiii[i], Mot he habben..mid him..his cildfostran [v.r. -festran]. a1225St. Marher. 8 Þu art foster ant feder to helplese children. c1250Gen. & Ex. 2620 Sche forð-ran, And brogt hire a fostre wimman. Ibid. 2624–5 Iakabeð wente bliðe agen, ðat ȝhe ðe gildes [cildes?] fostre muste ben. a1563Becon Humble Supplic. Wks. 1563 III. 21 b, Heretofore we had suche shepeheardes, as were tender fosters of thy flocke. 1601Holland Pliny xv. iv, The Greekes, whom wee may count the very fathers and fosters of all vices. 1640R. Baillie Canterb. Self-Convict. Pref. 10 Your sweete Fosters the Bishops have brought the Pope upon you and your Children. 1737Waterland Eucharist 157 The Word is all Things to the Infant, a Father, a Mother, a Preceptor, a Foster. 1851Longfellow Gold. Leg. ii. Village Church, This is the Black Pater-noster, God was my foster, He fostered me Under the book of the Palm-tree!
▪ III. † ˈfoster, n.3 Obs.
Also 5 fostere.
[contracted f. forester; used in AF.]
= forester.
c1386Chaucer Prol. 117 A forster [v.r. foster] was he, soothly, as I gesse. c1430Syr Tryam. 1063 Then swere the fosters alle twelve, They wolde no wedd but hymselfe. 1460J. Capgrave Chron. 111 Flaundres..had no othir governouris but the Fosteres of the Kyng of Frauns. 15..Adam Bel 561 in Hazl. E.P.P. II. 162 Forty fosters of the fe, These outlawes had y-slaw. 1590Spenser F.Q. iii. i. 17 A griesly Foster forth did rush. 1594[see forester 1]. 1597Dowland 1st Bk. Songs (1844) 90 And love as well the foster can, As can the mighty nobleman. 1607[see forester 1].
Hence ˈfostership, the office of forester.
1628Coke On Litt. 20 a, The Office of a Fostership [was] intailed.
▪ IV. foster, v.|ˈfɒstə(r)|
Forms: 1 ? fóstrian, 3 fostren, -in, (Orm. fosstrenn), 3–6 fostre, (3 south. vostre, 4 fostire), 5 foustre, (5 fostare, 7 fauster), 3– foster.
[OE. *fóstrian (Lye), = ON. fóstra (Sw. fostra, Du. fostre), f. fóstor, foster n.1 The recorded OE. féstr(i)an may be either f. the same stem or f. féstre nurse: see foster n.2]
†1. trans. To supply with food or nourishment; to nourish, feed, support. In early quots. to feed and foster. Obs. in lit. sense.
[a1050Liber Scintill. lxxxi. (1889) 222 Mann byþ festrud [nutritur] and byð ᵹefedd. ]c1200Ormin 1558 Annd Jesu Crist himm sellf shall ben Uppo þatt bodiȝ hæfedd, To fedenn & to fosstrenn hemm. c1300Havelok 1434 Vnto this day, Haue ich ben fed and fostred ay. c1386Chaucer Manciple's T. 71 Lat take a cat, and fostre him wel with milk, And tendre flesh. 1483Caxton Gold. Leg. 434 b/1 Wold to god I had mylke to foustre the wythal. 1611Shakes. Cymb. ii. iii. 119 One, bred but of Almes, and foster'd with cold dishes. [1719Young Busiris v. i, The infant of my bosom! Whom I would foster with my vital blood.]
fig.a1340Hampole Psalter xxx. 4 For þi name þou sall lede me & fostire me. a1400–50Alexander 3495 His flesche is fostard & fedd be fiȝt & by sternes. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 108 b, They sholde be..with swete consolacyons fostred & nourysshed. 1647H. More Song of Soul ii. ii. iii. iv, Fauster'd and fed with hid hypocrisie.
†2. To bring up (a child) with parental care; often, to bring up as a foster-child, be a foster-parent to. Also with forth, up. Obs.
c1205Lay. 25900 Ich wes hire uoster-moder, and feire heo uostredde. c1340Cursor M. 3070 (Trin.) Here shal þou wiþ him wone & foster forþ here þi sone. 1357Lay Folks Catech., Fleshli fadir and modir That getes and fosters us forthe in this world. c1386Chaucer Man of Law's T. 177 Thy yonge doughter fostred up so softe. 1470–85Malory Arthur i. vi, Your wyf that as wel as her owne hath fostred me and kepte. 1529More Supplic. Soulys Wks. 337/2 Oure fathers also, whiche while we liued fostred vs vp so tenderly. 1588Shakes. Tit. A. ii. iii. 153 Some say, that Rauens foster forlorne children. 1606L. Bryskett Civ. Life 34 Such children as were borne vnperfect..should not..be fostered vp. 1697Dryden æneid vii. 941 The son of Mulciber, Found in the Fire, and foster'd in the Plains.
†b. To bring up, educate, nurture in (beliefs, habits, etc.). Obs.
c1386Chaucer Sec. Nun's T. 122 This mayden..Was..from hir cradel fostred in the faith Of Crist. 1483Caxton Gold. Leg. 378/1. 1588 A. King tr. Canisius' Catech. 50 Fosterit, teachit, and brocht vp in continuall exercise. 1580Sidney Arcadia ii. (1590) 138 b, A Prince..fostred [ed. 1598 fostered vp] in blood by his naughty Father.
c. with reference to fosterage 2. Also absol.
1515in St. Papers Hen. VIII (1834) II. 13 Some sayeth, that the Englyshe noble folke useith to delyver therre children to the Kynges Irysshe enymyes to foster. 1596Spenser State Irel. Wks. (Globe) 638/2 These evill customes of fostring and marrying with the Irish most carefully to be restrayned. 1775Johnson West. Isl. 313 A Laird, a man of wealth and eminence, sends his child, either male or female, to a tacksman or tenant, to be fostered. 1887Stokes tr. Tripartite Life Patrick 141 He gave him to bishop Bron to be fostered.
d. to foster on (a lamb): to put it to a ewe, which is not its mother, to be nourished.
1816Keatinge Trav. (1817) II. 264 Sometimes it is necessary to..compel the ewes to admit the lambs, either their own or fostered on, to suck them. Note, To foster on a lamb, they tie the ewe, and at night compel her to give suck to the lamb two or three times.
e. transf. and fig. of a country, etc.
a1300Cursor M. 22102 Bethsaida and corozaim, þir tua cites sal foster him. 1577tr. Bullinger's Decades (1592) 145 Euery mans countrie..which fed, fostered, adorned, and defended him. 1583Stanyhurst æneis i. (Arb.) 35 Such barbarus vsadge What soyle wyld fosters?
3. To ‘nurse’, tend with affectionate care; to ‘nurse’, cherish, keep warm (in the bosom).
c1386Chaucer Clerk's T. 166 And in greet reverence and charitee Hir olde poore fader fostred she. ― Merch. T. 143 No man hateth his flesh, but in his lyf He fostreth it. 1388Wyclif Prov. v. 20 Mi sone, whi art thou disseyued of an alien womman; and art fostrid [foveris] in the bosum of an othere? 1483Caxton G. de la Tour I iv b, She hadde grete pyte of wymmen whiche were at theyre childbedde and vysyted and foustred them. 1603Knolles Hist. Turks (1638) 330, I was so foolish and inconsiderate to foster vp as it were in my bosom this my domesticall and neglected enemy. 1766Goldsm. Vic. W. xxxi, What a viper have I been fostering in my bosom! 1821Keats Lamia 140 But the god fostering her chilled hand, She felt the warmth.
4. To encourage or help to grow; to promote the growth of (a fire, plant, etc.). Also, with † forth, up. Now only with mixture of sense 3.
a1225Ancr. R. 296 Þe sparke lið & keccheð more fur, & fostreð hit forð, & waxeð from lesse to more. 1377Langl. P. Pl. B. xvii. 206 Wex and weyke and hote fyre togyderes Fostren forth a flaumbe. 1555W. Watreman Fardle Facions i. i. 24 The moste pleasaunt plot of the earth, fostered to flourishe with the moisture of floudes on euery parte. 1576Gascoigne Philomene 4 Westerne windes do foster forth our floures. 1615G. Sandys Trav. (1652) 133 They [the priests] shave their heads and foster their beards, contrary to the laity. 1850Tennyson In Mem. viii, A flower..Which once she foster'd up with care. 1856Kane Arct. Expl. I. ix. 98 Fostered by the reverberation of solar heat from the rocks, we met a flower growth.
5. To encourage, cherish, harbour fondly, nurse (a feeling, etc.); to encourage, promote the development of; (of things, circumstances) to be favourable or conducive to. Also with up.
1570Buchanan Ane Admonit. Wks. (1892) 31 The hamiltonis fosterit yair vane hoip. 1585Abp. Sandys Serm. x. 166 The Arrians, the Anabaptists, the Family of loue, with all others of the like sort, fostered vp their errors in secret and darke corners. 1755Monitor (1756) I. ii. 17 They always foster up a jealousy in the minds of the people. 1783Johnson Let. to Mrs. Thrale 8 July, Of Miss H — whom you charge me with forgetting, I know not why I should much foster the remembrance. 1785Burke Sp. Nabob of Arcot's Debts Wks. IV. 207 The system of concealment is fostered by a system of falsehood. 1809–10Coleridge Friend (1865) 192 Rivalry between two nations..fosters all the virtues by which national security is maintained. 1844H. H. Wilson Brit. India II. 216 Thus fostered, the insurrection was rapidly gaining head. 1844Disraeli Coningsby vii. viii, The enmities that are fostered between you and my grand⁓father. 1868Rogers Pol. Econ. viii. (1876) 76 The genius of financiers was directed towards fostering exportation, checking importation. 1885Clodd Myths & Dr. i. iii. 40 The superstitions which mountainous countries especially foster.
†b. To encourage, indulge in a habit, etc. Obs.
1568Grafton Chron. II. 64 Rather to be brideled for his presumption, then to bee fostered and encouraged therin. 1633Prynne 1st Pt. Histrio-mastix vi. vi. 505 Stage-playes serve..to drawe men on by degrees to idlenesse, or to foster, to foment them in it.
Hence ˈfostered ppl. a.
1583Stanyhurst æneis i. (Arb.) 17 Junoes long fostred deadlye reuengment. 1608R. Armin Nest Ninn. (1842) 50 The Citty..placed him as a fostred fatherless child. 1639G. Daniel Ecclus. xxix. 95 Thou shalt be revil'd..even by the ffoster'd Child Of thy owne Charity. 1790–1811W. Combe Devil upon Two Stick's in Eng. (1817) IV. 201 The fostered habits of his mind.
Sense 2 e in Dict. becomes 2 f. Add: [2.] e. to foster out: to put (a child) into the care of foster parents. Cf. to board out s.v. board v. 10.
1960F. G. Lennhoff Exceptional Children i. 25 Some [of the children] were adopted or fostered out and the relationship between child and adults has not developed into a healthy child–parent relationship. 1986M. Forster Private Papers 4 Children from the Home were regularly adopted or fostered out. 1987Daily Tel. 25 June 13/8 By the time they reached that decision couples had been broken up, bewildered and distressed children separated from siblings and fostered out. |