Etymograph

English

fomentation

Fomentation comes from Late Latin fōmentātiō ‘fomentation, treatment with a (hot) poultice’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *dʰegʷʰ- ‘to burn’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰegʷʰ-‘to burn’reconstructed
  2. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEfōmentātiō‘fomentation, treatment with a (hot) poultice’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fōmentāciǒun‘act of fomenting’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1580fomentation

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰegʷʰ-‘to burn’reconstructed
  2. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEfōmentātiō‘fomentation, treatment with a (hot) poultice’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fōmentāciǒun‘act of fomenting’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1580fomentation

Earliest quotation: 1580, Leonardo Phioravanti [i.e., A Cure of Vlcera Putrida, the which was in the Arme: “[…] I purged him with our Quintaeſſencia Solutiuo, eight…”

Formed from foment + -ation

Proto-Indo-European *dʰegʷʰ- ‘to burn’

…

Latin fōmentum ‘lotion’

Late Latin fōmentāre

Old French fomenter

Middle English fomenten ‘to apply a warm, soft medicament’

English foment

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *dʰegʷʰ- ‘to burn’

day, dear, dawn, fever, darling, daw, febrile, 20 more

Today it means

noun The act of fomenting; the application of warm, soft, medicinal substances, as for the purpose of easing pain by relaxing the skin, or of discussing (dispersing) tumours.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *dʰegʷʰ- / fomentation

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