Fomenter
/foʊˈmɛn.tər/noun
A person or thing that promotes trouble, conflict, or unrest.
Did you know?The word comes from Latin roots meaning “to warm” or “to heat up,” and in older French and English it could mean to “nurse” or “cherish” something before it took on its darker sense of stirring up disorder.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*dʰegʷʰ-
“to burn, heat”
Latin
Latin
fovēre
“to warm, cherish, foster”
Late Latin
Latin
fomentāre
“to apply warm compresses; to warm or encourage”
Old French
Old French
fomenter
“to foment, warm; later, to stir up”
Middle English
English
fomenter
“one who foments or stirs up”
Modern English
English
fomenter
“a person who promotes trouble or unrest”
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