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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Ferment \Fer"ment\, noun [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 now called {enzymes} and were formerly called {soluble ferments} or {chemical ferments}. 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 they are proteins 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. Before 1960 the term "ferment" to mean "enzyme" fell out of use. Enzymes are now known to be {globular protein}s, capable of catalyzing a wide variety of chemical reactions, not merely hydrolytic. The full set of enzymes causing production of ethyl alcohol from sugar has been identified and individually purified and studied. See {enzyme}. [1913 Webster +PJC]
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 alchemists. --Ure.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Ferment \Fer*ment"\, verb (used with an object) [imp. & p. p. {Fermented}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Fermenting}.] [L. fermentare, fermentatum: cf. F. fermenter. See {Ferment}, noun] To cause ferment or fermentation in; to set in motion; to excite internal emotion in; to heat.
Ye vigorous swains! while youth ferments your blood. --Pope.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Ferment \Fer*ment"\, verb (used without an object)
1. To undergo fermentation; to be in motion, or to be excited into sensible internal motion, as the constituent particles of an animal or vegetable fluid; to work; to effervesce.
2. To be agitated or excited by violent emotions.
But finding no redress, ferment and rage. --Milton.
The intellect of the age was a fermenting intellect. --De Quincey.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
ferment
noun
1: a state of agitation or turbulent change or development; "the political ferment produced a new leadership"; "social unrest" [syn: {agitation}, {fermentation}, {unrest}]
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}, {zymolysis}, {fermentation}, {fermenting}]
4: a chemical phenomenon in which an organic molecule splits into simpler substances [syn: {fermentation}]
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" [syn: {work}]
4: go sour or spoil; "The milk has soured"; "The wine worked"; "The cream has turned--we have to throw it out" [syn: {sour}, {turn}, {work}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
281 Moby Thesaurus words for "ferment": acetification, acetify, acidification, acidify, acidulate, acidulation, ado, agent, agitate, agitation, ailment, alkalify, alkalization, alkalize, alterant, alterative, alterer, arouse, bacteria, beat, beat up, blow the coals, blubber, bluster, bobbery, boil, boil over, boiling, borate, bother, botheration, brawl, brew, broil, brouhaha, bubble, bubble over, bubble up, bubbliness, bubbling, burble, burst, bustle, buttermilk, cacophony, carbon dioxide, carbonate, carbonation, catalysis, catalyst, catalytic agent, catalyze, chaos, chemical, chemicalization, chlorinate, churn, churn up, clamor, commotion, conturbation, convulse, convulsion, disarrange, discompose, discomposure, disorder, disquiet, disquietude, disturb, disturbance, dudgeon, ebullience, ebulliency, ebullition, eddy, effervesce, effervescence, effervescency, electrolysis, electrolyze, embroilment, enzyme, excite, excitement, fan, fan the flame, fanaticism, feed the fire, feery-fary, fermentation, fever, feverishness, fidgetiness, fidgets, fire, fit, fizz, fizzle, flap, flurry, fluster, flutter, flutteration, flutteriness, foam, foaming, foment, fomentation, foofaraw, frenzy, fret, froth, frothiness, frothing, fume, furor, furore, fury, fuss, fussiness, guggle, gurgle, heat, heat up, high dudgeon, hiss, homopolymerize, hubbub, huff, hullabaloo, hurly-burly, hurry, hurry-scurry, hydrate, hydrogenate, hydrogenation, hydroxylate, impassion, incense, incite, inflame, innovationist, innovator, inquietude, instigate, introducer, isomerism, isomerize, jitters, jumpiness, leaven, leavening, maelstrom, malaise, metamerism, metamerization, miff, modificator, modifier, moil, mother, nerviness, nervosity, nervousness, nettle, nitrate, nitration, outcry, oxidation, oxidization, oxidize, paddle, pandemonium, passion, pell-mell, pepsin, pepsinate, peroxidize, perturb, perturbate, perturbation, pet, phosphatization, phosphatize, pique, plop, polymerism, polymerization, polymerize, position isomerism, pother, precursor, provoke, put up to, racket, rage, raise, rally, reduce, reduction, restiveness, restlessness, rile, ripple, rise, roil, roughen, rouse, rout, row, ruckus, ruffle, rumple, rumpus, saturization, scramble, seethe, seething, set on, shake, shake up, sic on, simmer, smolder, soda, sour, sparkle, spasm, spumescence, spurt, stew, stir, stir the embers, stir up, storminess, sulfate, sulfatize, sulfonate, sweat, swirl, swirling, tempestuousness, tickle, tiff, to-do, transformer, transmogrifier, trepidation, trepidity, trouble, tumult, tumultuation, tumultuousness, turbidity, turbulence, turmoil, turn sour, twitter, unease, unquiet, unrest, upheaval, uproar, upset, upturn, vinegar, vortex, whet, whip, whip up, whirl, whisk, wildness, work, work up, working, yeast, yeastiness, zeal, zealousness
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