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ferment - 9 dictionary results

fer⋅ment

  [n. fur-ment; v. fer-ment]
Use ferment in a Sentence
–noun
1. Also called organized ferment. any of a group of living organisms, as yeasts, molds, and certain bacteria, that cause fermentation.
2. Also called unorganized ferment. an enzyme.
3. fermentation.
4. agitation; unrest; excitement; commotion; tumult: The new painters worked in a creative ferment. The capital lived in a political ferment.
–verb (used with object)
5. to act upon as a ferment.
6. to cause to undergo fermentation.
7. to inflame; foment: to ferment prejudiced crowds to riot.
8. to cause agitation or excitement in: Reading fermented his active imagination.
–verb (used without object)
9. to be fermented; undergo fermentation.
10. to seethe with agitation or excitement.
Origin:
1350–1400; ME < L fermentum yeast (n.), fermentāre to cause to rise (v.); akin to barm, L fervēre to boil

Related forms:
fer⋅ment⋅a⋅ble, adjective
fer⋅ment⋅a⋅bil⋅i⋅ty, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To ferment
fer·ment   (fûr'měnt')   
n.  
  1. Something, such as a yeast, bacterium, mold, or enzyme, that causes fermentation.
  2. Fermentation.
    1. A state of agitation or of turbulent change or development.
    2. An agent that precipitates or is capable of precipitating such a state; a catalyst.
v.   (fər-měnt') fer·ment·ed, fer·ment·ing, fer·ments

v.   tr.
  1. To produce by or as if by fermentation.
  2. To cause to undergo fermentation.
  3. To make turbulent; excite or agitate.
v.   intr.
  1. To undergo fermentation.
  2. To be in an excited or agitated state; seethe.

[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin fermentum; see bhreu- in Indo-European roots.]
fer·ment'a·bil'i·ty n., fer·ment'a·ble adj.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Ferment

Fer"ment\, n. [L. fermentum ferment (in senses 1 & 2), perh. for fervimentum, fr. fervere to be boiling hot, boil, ferment: cf. F. ferment. Cf. 1st Barm, Fervent.]

1. That which causes fermentation, as yeast, barm, or fermenting beer.

Note: Ferments are of two kinds: (a) Formed or organized ferments. (b) Unorganized or structureless ferments. The latter are also called soluble or chemical ferments, and enzymes. Ferments of the first class are as a rule simple microscopic vegetable organisms, and the fermentations which they engender are due to their growth and development; as, the acetic ferment, the butyric ferment, etc. See Fermentation. Ferments of the second class, on the other hand, are chemical substances, as a rule soluble in glycerin and precipitated by alcohol. In action they are catalytic and, mainly, hydrolytic. Good examples are pepsin of the dastric juice, ptyalin of the salvia, and disease of malt.

2. Intestine motion; heat; tumult; agitation.

Subdue and cool the ferment of desire. --Rogers.

the nation is in a ferment. --Walpole.

3. A gentle internal motion of the constituent parts of a fluid; fermentation. [R.]

Down to the lowest lees the ferment ran. --Thomson.

ferment oils, volatile oils produced by the fermentation of plants, and not originally contained in them. These were the quintessences of the alchenists. --Ure.

Ferment

Fer*ment"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Fermented; p. pr. & vb. n. Fermenting.] [L. fermentare, fermentatum: cf. F. fermenter. See Ferment, n.] To cause ferment of fermentation in; to set in motion; to excite internal emotion in; to heat.

Ye vigorous swains! while youth ferments your blood. --Pope.

Ferment

Fer*ment"\, v. i. 1. To undergo fermentation; to be in motion, or to be excited into sensible internal motion, as the constituent oarticles of an animal or vegetable fluid; to work; to effervesce.

2. To be agitated or excited by violent emotions.

But finding no redress, ferment an rage. --Milton.

The intellect of the age was a fermenting intellect. --De Quincey.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : ferment
Spanish: fermentar,
German: gären,
Japanese: 発酵する
More Translations »

ferment 
1398, from L. fermentare "to leaven, ferment," from fermentum "substance causing fermentation, leaven," from root of fervere "to boil, seethe" (see brew).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Main Entry: 1fer·ment
Pronunciation: (")f&r-'ment
Function: intransitive verb
: to undergo fermentation ferment transitivesenses
: to cause to undergo fermentation —fer·ment·able /-&-b&l/ adjective

Main Entry: 2fer·ment
Pronunciation: 'f&r-"ment also (")f&r-'
Function: noun
1 a : a living organism (as a yeast)that causes fermentation by virtue of its enzymes b : ENZYME
2 : FERMENTATION
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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ferment fer·ment (fûr'měnt')
n.

  1. An agent, as a yeast, a bacterium, a mold, or an enzyme, that causes fermentation.
  2. Fermentation.
v. fer·ment·ed, fer·ment·ing, fer·ments (fər-měnt')
To cause or undergo fermentation.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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