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Ferment

7 dictionary results for: ferment

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

fer·ment

[n. fur-ment; v. fer-ment] Pronunciation Key

–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 fervére to boil

]

—Related forms

fer·ment·a·ble, adjective

fer·ment·a·bil·i·ty, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

fer·ment (fûr'měnt') Pronunciation Key
n.

Something, such as a yeast, bacterium, mold, or enzyme, that causes fermentation.
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.

To produce by or as if by fermentation.
To cause to undergo fermentation.
To make turbulent; excite or agitate.

v. intr.

To undergo fermentation.
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.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
ferment

1398, from L. fermentare "to leaven, ferment," from fermentum "substance causing fermentation, leaven," from root of fervere "to boil, seethe" (see brew).

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WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

ferment
noun
1.	a state of agitation or turbulent change or development; "the political ferment produced new leadership"; "social unrest" [syn: agitation]
2.	a substance capable of bringing about fermentation
3.	a process in which an agent causes an organic substance to break down into simpler substances; especially, the anaerobic breakdown of sugar into alcohol [syn: zymosis]
verb
1.	be in an agitated or excited state; "The Middle East is fermenting"; "Her mind ferments"
2.	work up into agitation or excitement; "Islam is fermenting Africa"
3.	cause to undergo fermentation; "We ferment the grapes for a very long time to achieve high alcohol content"; "The vintner worked the wine in big oak vats"
4.	go sour or spoil; "The milk has soured"; "The wine worked"; "The cream has turned--we have to throw it out" [syn: sour]

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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

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.

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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

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.

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