Definition of "fosterage" in English

noun

1. The act of fostering another's child as if it were one's own.

2. The act of caring for another human being or animal.

   • 1660, Robert May, The Accomplisht Cook, London: Obadiah Blagrave, 5th edition, 1685, I do acknowledg my self not to be a little beholding to the Italian and Spanish Treatises; though without my fosterage, and bringing up under the Generosities and Bounties of my Noble Patrons and Masters, I could never have arrived to this Experience.

3. The condition of being the foster child.

4. The act of promoting or encouraging something.

   • 1945, United States Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation, Insuring Proper Land Use, Columbia Basin Joint Investigations, Problem 3, Chapter 3, p. 13, Markets are not developed overnight and basic to the success of any marketing program is fosterage of a land use program that assures a permanent agriculture.