fosterage

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   The act of fostering another's child as if it were one's own.

   • There still remains in the Islands, though it is passing fast away, the custom of fosterage. A Laird, a man of wealth and eminence, sends his child, either male or female, to a tacksman, or tenant, to be fostered.
   • A youth passed in solitude, my best years spent under your gentle and feminine fosterage, has so refined the groundwork of my character, that I cannot overcome an intense distaste to the usual brutality exercised on board ship […]
2. 2

   The act of caring for another human being or animal.

   • In those animals in which the system of fosterage and protection has not been developed a great number of fertilized ova are produced, only a few of which come to maturity.
3. 3

   The condition of being the foster child.

4. ›+ 1 more definitionshow fewer

   1. 4

      The act of promoting or encouraging something.

The neighborhood