foment

<font size="-1" face="arial, helvetica"> <p> <strong> <font color="#000066">Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 12, 2020 is:</font> </strong> </p> <p> <strong>foment</strong> &#149; \FOH-ment\&nbsp; &#149; <em>verb</em><br /> <p><strong>:</strong> to promote the growth or development of <strong>:</strong> <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rouse">rouse</a>, <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/incite">incite</a></p> </p> <p> <strong>Examples:</strong><br /> <p>Rumors that the will was a fake <em>fomented</em> a lot of bitterness between the two families.</p> <p>"Last year, the country leaked personal information of an American official in Hong Kong, accusing her of <em>fomenting</em> unrest...." — <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/beijing-style-repression-is-coming-to-hong-kong-what-will-washington-do/2020/05/22/d1b2c36a-9b98-11ea-ad79-eef7cd734641_story.html">Shibani Mahtani, <em>The Washington Post</em>, 22 May 2020</a></p> </p> <p> <strong>Did you know?</strong><br /> <p>If you had sore muscles in the 1600s, your doctor might have advised you to foment the injury, perhaps with heated lotions or warm wax. Does this sound like an odd prescription? Not if you know that <em>foment</em> traces to the Latin verb <em>fovēre</em>, which means "to heat or warm" or "to soothe." The earliest documented English uses of <em>foment</em> appear in medical texts offering advice on how to soothe various aches and pains by the application of moist heat. In time, the idea of applying heat became a metaphor for stimulating or rousing to action. <em>Foment</em> then started being used in political contexts to mean "to stir up" or "to call to action."</p> <br /><br /> </p> </font>