Dear mav: to tease you gently,whouldn't this be in WW's thread about words that get confused?

ferment vs foment

Well, 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?