foment
/foʊˈmɛnt/verb, noun
foment is spelled F-O-M-E-N-T: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 4 million words in written English, the 59,387th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “ferment vs foment” about 70 times a month (Google, United States). As a verb, foment means “To incite or cause troublesome acts; to encourage; to instigate” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in foment?
| Letters | 6: F-O-M-E-N-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 4 million words; the 59,387th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search | |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is foment?
Foment appears about once in every 4 million words in written English, the 59,387th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce foment?
- UK /fəʊˈmɛnt/
- US /foʊˈmɛnt/
- US /fəˈmɛnt/
Foment has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-foment.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with foment
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with foment?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as foment from its last stressed vowel (/ɛnt/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of foment
- foments present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- fomenting participle, present
- fomented participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does foment mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To incite or cause troublesome acts; to encourage; to instigate.
He was arrested for fomenting a riot; after all, it's bad enough being in a riot but starting one is much worse.
- 2
To apply a poultice to; to bathe with a cloth or sponge.
noun
- 1
Fomentation.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Foment in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense to incite or cause:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does foment come from?
From Middle English fomenten, a borrowing from Old French fomenter, from Late Latin fōmentāre, from Latin fōmentum (“lotion”), from fovēre (“heat, cherish”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).