ferment
Something, such as a yeast or barm, that causes fermentationSomething, such as a yeast or barm, that causes fermentation.
» Yeast causes the grapes to ferment.
Meaning
4 sensesSomething, such as a yeast or barm, that causes fermentation.
A state of agitation or of turbulent change.
14 November, 1770, Junius, letter to the Right Honourable Lord Mansfield The nation is in a ferment.
возбужде́ниеvozbuždénije, волне́ниеvolnénije
a state of agitation or turbulent change or development
A gentle internal motion of the constituent parts of a fluid; fermentation.
Gärmittel
ферме́нтfermént
A catalyst.
Examples
30 sentencesYeast causes the grapes to ferment.
The whole town was in a ferment.
The smell of fermented soybeans sickens him.
As the food particles ferment, they produce methane.
The must is fermenting in the open barrel.
deDer Most gärt im offenen Holzfass.
Translations
6 languagesBy meaning 2
By meaning 1
Origin
From Middle English ferment, from Middle French ferment, from Latin fermentāre (“to leavenFrom Middle English ferment, from Middle French ferment, from Latin fermentāre (“to leaven, ferment”), from fermentum (“substance causing fermentation”), possibly from contraction of *fervimentum, from fervēre. See also fervent.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
plural: fermentsSynonyms
7 synonyms- a state of agitation or turbulent change or development:agitationfermentationtempestuousnessunrest
- a process in which an agent causes an organic substance to break down into simpler substances; especially, the anaerobic breakdown of sugar into alcohol:zymosiszymolysisfermentationfermenting