nourish

English

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for “nourish”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)

Etymology

From Middle English norischen, from Old French nouriss-, stem of one of the conjugated forms of norrir, from Latin nutrire (“to suckle, feed, foster, nourish, cherish, preserve, support”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈnʌɹ.ɪʃ/
• IPA^(key): /ˈnʌɹ.ɪʃ/, /ˈnɝ.ɪʃ/
  • IPA^(key): /ˈnʊɹ.ɪʃ/

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

Noun

nourish (plural nourishes)

1. (obsolete) A nurse.

Verb

1. To feed and cause to grow; to supply with matter which increases bulk or supplies waste, and promotes health; to furnish with nutriment.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Isaiah 44:14:

     He planteth an ash, and the rain doth nourish it.

2. To support; to maintain.
   • 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i]:

     I in Ireland nourish a mighty band.

3. To supply the means of support and increase to; to encourage; to foster

   to nourish rebellion

   to nourish virtues

4. To cherish; to comfort.
   • 1611, King James Version, James v. 5

     Ye have nourished your hearts.

5. To educate; to instruct; to bring up; to nurture; to promote the growth of in attainments.
   • 1611, King James Version, 1 Timothy iv. 6

     Nourished up in the words of faith.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Chaucer to this entry?)

6. To promote growth; to furnish nutriment.
7. (intransitive, obsolete) To gain nourishment.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Francis Bacon to this entry?)

Derived terms

• nourishment

Related terms

• nurse
• nutriment
• nutrition

Translations

to feed and cause to grow

• Armenian: կերակրել (hy) (kerakrel), սնուցել (hy) (snucʻel)
• Czech: živit (cs), vyživovat
• Esperanto: kreskigi, eduki (eo)
• Finnish: ravita (fi)
• French: nourrir (fr)
• Friulian: nudrî
• German: ernähren (de), nähren (de), aufziehen (de)
• Greek:

  Ancient: τρέφω (tréphō), φέρβω (phérbō) (Epic), ἀλδαίνω (aldaínō) (Epic)

• Hungarian: táplál (hu)
• Irish: beathaigh, biathaigh

  Old Irish: ailid

• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Italian: nutrire (it)
• Latin: alere
• Portuguese: nutrir (pt)
• Romanian: nutri (ro)
• Russian: корми́ть (ru) impf (kormítʹ), пита́ть (ru) impf (pitátʹ), вска́рмливать (ru) impf (vskármlivatʹ) (esp. of suckling), расти́ть (ru) impf (rastítʹ) (to rear, to raise)
• Spanish: nutrir (es)
• Thai: หล่อเลี้ยง (th) (lɔ̀ɔ-líiang)
• Turkish: beslemek (tr)
• Venetian: norir (vec)
• Welsh: porthi (cy), maethu (cy)

To support; to maintain.

• Esperanto: subteni
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

To supply the means of support; to encourage; to foster

• Esperanto: subteni
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Latin: alō (la)

To cherish; to comfort.

• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

To educate; to instruct; to bring up; to nurture

• Esperanto: kreskigi, eduki (eo)
• German: erziehen (de), großziehen (de), aufziehen (de)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Venetian: norir (vec)

To promote growth; to furnish nutriment.

• Venetian: norir (vec)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

To gain nourishment.

• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

Further reading

• “nourish”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “nourish”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “nourish”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.