LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
verbsecond conjugation

foveō

foveō (present infinitive fovēre, perfect active fōvī, supine fōtum)
Classical[ˈfɔ.we.oː]Ecclesiastical[ˈfɔː.ve.o]

Meaning

  1. to warm, keep warm
  2. to nurture, cherish, foster
    quae facitis nīdōs et plūmīs ōva fovētis[You birds], who build nests, and with soft feathers nurture your eggs8 CE, Ovidius, Fasti 1.443
  3. to foment, bathe
  4. to favor, encourage, comfort
  5. to support, assist

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

Choosing the right word Döderlein's Latin Synonyms

Calere · Fervere · Æstuare · Calefacere · Fovere

1. Calere and fervere denote, objectively, warmth by itself, and, indeed, calidus (κηλέῳ πυρί), in opp. to frigidus, a moderate degree of warmth, but fervidus, in opp. to gelidus, a degree of warmth on the point of boiling, heat; whereas æstuare (from αἴθω), subjectively, the feeling of heat, in opp. to algere. (iii. 89.) 2. Calefacere means to make warm, in a purely physical sense, without any accessory notion; whereas fovere (from ἀφαύω), with reference to the genial sensation, or salutary effect of the warmth. (vi. 48.)

Conjugation conjugation 2

active indicative
formpresentimperfectfutureperfectpluperfectfut. perfect
1st sg.foveōfovēbamfovēbōfōvīfōveramfōverō
2nd sg.fovēsfovēbāsfovēbisfōvistīfōverāsfōveris
3rd sg.fovetfovēbatfovēbitfōvitfōveratfōverit
1st pl.fovēmusfovēbāmusfovēbimusfōvimusfōverāmusfōverimus
2nd pl.fovētisfovēbātisfovēbitisfōvistisfōverātisfōveritis
3rd pl.foventfovēbantfovēbuntfōvērunt
fōvēre		fōverantfōverint
active subjunctive
active subjunctive
formpresentimperfectperfectpluperfect
1st sg.foveamfovēremfōverimfōvissem
2nd sg.foveāsfovērēsfōverīsfōvissēs
3rd sg.foveatfovēretfōveritfōvisset
1st pl.foveāmusfovērēmusfōverīmusfōvissēmus
2nd pl.foveātisfovērētisfōverītisfōvissētis
3rd pl.foveantfovērentfōverintfōvissent
passive indicative
passive indicative
formpresentimperfectfuture
1st sg.foveorfovēbarfovēbor
2nd sg.fovēris
fovēre		fovēbāris
fovēbāre		fovēberis
fovēbere
3rd sg.fovēturfovēbāturfovēbitur
1st pl.fovēmurfovēbāmurfovēbimur
2nd pl.fovēminīfovēbāminīfovēbiminī
3rd pl.foventurfovēbanturfovēbuntur
passive subjunctive
passive subjunctive
formpresentimperfect
1st sg.fovearfovērer
2nd sg.foveāris
foveāre		fovērēris
fovērēre
3rd sg.foveāturfovērētur
1st pl.foveāmurfovērēmur
2nd pl.foveāminīfovērēminī
3rd pl.foveanturfovērentur
imperative
imperative
formactivepassive
pres. 2nd sg.fovēfovēre
pres. 2nd pl.fovētefovēminī
fut. 2nd sg.fovētōfovētor
fut. 3rd sg.fovētōfovētor
fut. 2nd pl.fovētōte—
fut. 3rd pl.foventōfoventor
infinitives & participles
infinitives & participles
formactivepassive
present infinitivefovērefovērī
perfect infinitivefōvissefōtum esse
future infinitivefōtūrum essefōtum īrī
present participlefovēns—
perfect participle—fōtus
fōta, fōtā, fōtae, fōtam, fōtārum, fōtās, fōte, fōtī, fōtīs, fōtō, fōtōrum, fōtōs
future participlefōtūrus
fōtūra, fōtūrā, fōtūrae, fōtūram, fōtūrārum, fōtūrās, fōtūre, fōtūrī, fōtūrīs, fōtūrō, fōtūrōrum, fōtūrōs, fōtūrum		fovendus
fovenda, fovendā, fovendae, fovendam, fovendārum, fovendās, fovende, fovendīs, fovendōrum, fovendōs
gerundfovendī, fovendō, fovendumsupinefōtum, fōtū

fŏvĕo, fōvi, fōtum, 2, v. a. Corss. assumes a root bhag-, to be hot; Gr. φώγειν, to roast; O. H. Germ. bachan; Germ. backen; Engl. bake; hence, fovere for fog-vēre; favilla for fag-villa; and to this refers: favere, faustus, etc., Ausspr. 1, 142; 2, 1004; but cf. Georg Curtius Gr. Etym. p. 188, and v. faveo,
I. to warm, keep warm (class.; esp. freq. in the transf. and trop. signif.; syn.: calefacio: faveo, studeo, adjuvo, etc.).
I. Lit.: nisi sol sua pro parte fovet tribuitque calorem, Lucr. 1, 807; cf. id. 1, 1033: ut et pennis (pullos) foveant, ne frigore laedantur, Cic. N. D. 2, 52, 129; cf.: pulli a matribus exclusi fotique, id. ib. 2, 48, 124: fetus rigentes apprimendo pectori, Plin. 8, 36, 54, § 127: laridum atque epulas foveri foculis ferventibus, Plaut. Capt. 4, 2, 67: quos sancta fovet ille manu, bene vivitis ignes, i. e. keeps up, Ov. F. 3, 427; for which, in a different construction: fovet ignibus aras, id. M. 7, 427: nomen in marmore lectum Perfudit lacrimis et aperto pectore fovit, warmed the name with her naked breast, id. ib. 2, 339.—
II. Transf., to cherish, foster any thing.
A. Physically. So of diseased parts of the body, to foment (whether with warm or cold remedies): dumque manet corpus, corpus refoventque foventque, Ov. M. 8, 536: nares exulceratas fovere oportet vapore aquae calidae, Cels. 6, 8: multa aqua prius calida, post egelida fovendum os caputque, id. 4, 2, 4: genua calido aceto, Col. 6, 12, 4: nervos cortice et foliis in vino decoctis, Plin. 24, 9, 37, § 58; 32, 9, 34, § 106: cutem lacte asinino, id. 28, 12, 50, § 183: os quoque multa frigida aqua fovendum est, Cels. 1, 5; 1, 3 init.: cutem frigida et ante et postea, Plin. 28, 12, 50, § 184: vulnus lymphă, Verg. A. 12, 420.— Poet., in gen. (a favorite word with Vergil): interdum gremio fovet inscia Dido (puerum), cherishes, holds in her lap, Verg. A. 1, 718: germanam sinu, id. ib. 4, 686: cunctantem lacertis amplexu molli, i. e. to embrace, enfold, id. ib. 8, 388: animas et olentia Medi ora fovent, id. G. 2, 135: ipse aeger, anhelans Colla fovet, i. e. leans against the tree, id. A. 10, 838: castra fovere, to remain in the camp (the figure being that of a bird brooding over its nest), id. ib. 9, 57: (coluber) fovit humum, id. G. 3, 420; and transf. to a period of time: nunc hiemem inter se luxu, quam longa, fovere, Regnorum immemores, sit the winter through, pass the winter, id. A. 4, 193.—
B. Mentally, to cherish, caress, love, favor, support, assist, encourage: scribis de Caesaris summo in nos amore. Hunc et tu fovebis et nos quibuscumque poterimus rebus augebimus, Cic. Q. Fr. 3, 1, 3, § 9; cf.: inimicum meum sic fovebant, etc., id. Fam. 1, 9, 10: Vettienum, ut scribis, et Faberium foveo, id. Att. 15, 13, 3: et eo puto per Pomponium fovendum tibi esse Hortensium, id. Q. Fr. 1, 3, 8; cf. also Quint. 1, 2, 16: (duo duces) pugnantes hortabantur et prope certa fovebant spe, encouraged, animated, Liv. 38, 6, 5: tribuni plebis in cooptandis collegis patrum voluntatem foverunt, id. 3, 65, 1; cf.: res alicujus, id. 24, 36, 9; 26, 36, 6: spem potentioris, id. 40, 5, 5: rex statuerat utram foveret partem, id. 42, 29, 11; cf. id. 5, 3, 9: consilia alicujus, Tac. H. 1, 46: spectator populus hos, rursus illos clamore et plausu fovebat, id. ib. 3, 83: tu mihi gubernacula rei publicae petas fovendis hominum sensibus et deleniendis animis et adhibendis voluptatibus? by pampering, Cic. Mur. 35, 74: partes alicujus, Tac. H. 1, 8; 1, 14: adolescentiam alicujus exhortationibus, Plin. Ep. 1, 14, 1; cf.: ut propria naturae bona doctrina foverent, Quint. 2, 8, 3: ingenia et artes, Suet. Vesp. 18: quam magis in pectore meo foveo, quas meus filius turbas turbet, i. e. dwell upon, think over, Plaut. Bacch. 4, 10, 1: vota animo, Ov. M. 7, 633: spem, Mart. 9, 49, 4: nequiquam eos perditam spem fovere, Liv. 22, 53, 4; cf. Tac. H. 1, 62; Val. Max. 6 praef. § 9; cf. conversely: ut spes vos foveat, may sustain you, Just. Inst. prooem. 7: hoc regnum dea gentibus esse, jam tum tenditque fovetque, cherishes, Verg. A. 1, 18: dum illud tractabam, de quo antea scripsi ad te, quasi fovebam dolores meos (the fig. being taken from the fomenting of diseased parts of the body; v. above, II. A.), Cic. Att. 12, 18, 1: pantomimos fovebat effusius, Plin. Ep. 7, 27, 4.

Origins

  1. Proto-Indo-European*dʰegʷʰ-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*dʰogʷʰéyeti
  3. Proto-Italic*θoɣʷejō
  4. Proto-Italic*foɣʷeō
  5. Latinfoveō

Inherited from Proto-Italic *foɣʷeō, from earlier *θoɣʷejō, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰogʷʰéyeti, from *dʰegʷʰ- (“to warm”). The perfect form may have evolved from earlier *fowe-wai. The perfect participle probably reflects earlier *fovitos, which would have undergo syncope in all the case forms except for the nominative singular and the old genitive plural in *-om.

In English words that came into English from foveō

  • fomentfōmentō
  • fomentationfōmentātiō

Quick answers

What does foveō mean in Latin?
foveō, a verb, means “to warm, keep warm; to nurture, cherish, foster; to foment, bathe”.
What are the principal parts of foveō?
foveō, fovēre, fōvī, fōtum (second conjugation).
How do you pronounce foveō?
In classical Latin, [ˈfɔ.we.oː]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [ˈfɔː.ve.o].
Where does foveō come from?
Proto-Indo-European *dʰegʷʰ- → Proto-Indo-European *dʰogʷʰéyeti → Proto-Italic *θoɣʷejō → Proto-Italic *foɣʷeō → Latin foveō.