foster
/ˈfɒstə/adjective, noun, verb
foster is spelled F-O-S-T-E-R: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 21 times per million words in written English, the 4,076th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, foster means “Providing parental care to children not related to oneself” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in foster?
| Letters | 6: F-O-S-T-E-R |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 21 times per million words; the 4,076th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
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); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is foster?
Foster appears 21 times per million words in written English, the 4,076th 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 foster?
- UK /ˈfɒstə/
- British /ˈfɔstə/
- /ˈfɔstɚ/
Foster 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-au-foster.ogg, En-us-foster.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with foster?
2 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as foster from its last stressed vowel (/ɒstə/, British pronunciation):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: forest.
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 foster
- fosters plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- fostering participle, present
- fostered participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does foster mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Providing parental care to children not related to oneself.
foster parents
- 2
Receiving such care.
a foster child
- 3
Related by such care.
We are a foster family.
noun
- 1
informalA foster parent.
Some fosters end up adopting.
- 2
The care given to another; guardianship.
- 3
obsoleteA forester.
verb
- 1
To nurture or bring up offspring, or to provide similar parental care to an unrelated child.
- 2
To promote the development of something; to cultivate and grow a thing.
Our company fosters an appreciation for the arts.
- 3
To nurse or cherish something.
- 4
obsoleteTo be nurtured or trained up together.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Foster in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | adoptant, adoptif , élever, adopter , cultiver |
| German | Pflege- , (in Pflege) aufziehen, (in Pflege) großziehen , pflegen , nähren, fördern |
| Portuguese | adotivo, adoptivo , criar , cultivar , nutrir, cuidar |
| Spanish | adoptivo , acoger, cobijar , alentar , adoptado |
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 foster come from?
From Middle English foster, from Old English fōstor (“food, sustenance”), from Proto-West Germanic *fōstr, from Proto-Germanic *fōstrą (“nourishment, food”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).