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Glite Dictionary
foster child

foster child

19 3.0
A young person raised by people who are not their birth or adoptive parents
  • noun
  • /ˈfɔstər tʃaɪld/
translation icon : niño acogido
  • What kinds of problems do your foster children face in school?
  • proportion of foster children
  • illegitimate foster children
  • foster child in the household

I work with foster children and I work with fighting against CPS.

Examples

  • Despite all the love and support she gives them, Henry's foster children never confuse her with their own mothers.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • There is an increasing number of foster children in need of help.

    Academic text (2008)

  • Finally, she is accepted by a family that takes in foster children.

    Academic text (1997)

  • We also asked how many foster children they care for and how many children they have at one time.

    Academic text (2008)

  • - I'm a foster child, raised by the state.

    Fled (1996)

  • Eventually, they stopped accepting foster children, and agency officials fell out of touch.

    Academic text (1997)

  • Our resources for supporting and helping foster children are shrinking.

    Academic text (2005)

  • Most of the foster children attend public schools and require an aide in the classroom.

    Academic text (2008)

  • Are the schools doing enough to help your foster child/children with academic achievement, behavioral problems, etc.?

    Academic text (2008)

  • The Williams family welcomed three foster children into their home this year.

Synonyms

foster-child
vsfoster child
1 3.4

A child who lives with people who are not their birth parents

is the general description of such children without stressing official wording
fosterling
vsfoster child
  • Archaic
9.1

A child raised and cared for by people who are not their birth parents

is the more formal concept often implying an arranged placement

How Related

adoption
295 2.8
foster child
19 3.0
stranger
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

foster child singular
foster children plural

Morphology

foster + child

The meaning 'a child raised by non-biological carers' is directly and compositionally derived from 'foster' (to raise or care for a child not biologically yours) + 'child', following a regular adjective/verb + noun pattern. This is a straightforward, cross-linguistically common semantic combination, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents can reliably infer the MWE meaning.

Etymology

Foster child comes from the old verb foster, which meant 'to feed and care for' someone else's child. So a foster child is a child who is raised by people who are not their birth parents.