What does fosterling mean?
A fosterling is a child or young person brought up by caregivers other than their birth parents. The word can refer to a child placed in another household through a foster-care arrangement, but it is also broader and older, covering children raised under an established foster relationship even when the arrangement did not follow modern child-protection procedures. The emphasis is on upbringing rather than legal adoption: a fosterling need not become the legal child of the household that raises them. In current English, foster child and fostered child are considerably more common, while fosterling survives mainly in literature, historical writing, and specialized discussion of older family and legal customs. The word has a distinctly archaic tone, so it can lend dignity or atmosphere to a sentence but may sound unnatural in ordinary descriptions of modern foster care. Its unusual ending also makes it memorable: foster identifies the caring relationship, while -ling points to a young person within that relationship.
nounA child or young person brought up by people other than their birth parents, especially one placed in another family for care. The term can also refer more generally to a child raised under a foster relationship.
- A child or young person who is brought up by caregivers other than their birth parents, especially one placed in another household for care.
"The abandoned child became the fosterling of a distant and childless couple."
"The novel treats the young protagonist as a fosterling gradually accepted into the family that has agreed to raise her."
"In the historical records, he is listed as a fosterling in the household of a neighboring landowner."
The regular plural adds -s.
"The sisters took in three fosterlings from the neighboring village."
A fosterling belongs to no single word in modern English: foster identifies the caring relationship, while -ling points to the young person within it.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does fosterling come from?
Fosterling was formed in Middle English by attaching the productive suffix -ling to foster. Foster came through Old French from Latin, with the base commonly traced to faustus, meaning lucky or auspicious. Related English formations include foster, fosterage, and fosterhood, while the completed word survives chiefly in literary, historical, and legal usage.
Related word forms
How fosterling is actually used
Rare and literary, with additional historical and legal uses. In present-day English, foster child or fostered child is much more common and neutral.
Easily confused with fosterling
A fosterling is raised in another family by arrangement, whereas a foundling is an abandoned child whose parents are unknown.