Dear mav: to tease you gently,whouldn't this be in WW's thread about words that get confused?
ferment vs fomentWell, Bill, you make an interesting point. But hang on a mo – just consider this definition of ‘foment’:
vt, to apply a warm lotion to; to foster or instigate (usually evil) – n fomentation the application of a warm lotion. […] to reduce inflammation and pain {from Latin fovere, to warm}Instigating evil – yes, quite accurate; but reducing inflammation? I don’t think so! ;)
Now contrast it with this definition for ‘ferment’:
n a substance that excites fermentation; fermentation; agitation; tumult; vt to cause fermentation in; to work up, excite […] fermentation the act or process of fermenting; a slow decomposition process […] accompanied by evolution of heat and gas… {from Latin fervere to boil} (both definitions from
Chambers Concise 1997)
Uh-huhhhhh – exciting tumult which results in slow decomposition accompanied by heat and gas – that does it for me

So how come ‘foment’ came to have the meaning of “instigating evil” attached to it, when otherwise it usually refers to a therapeutic poultice?