nurture

English

An Eastern Grey Kangaroo nurtures her joey.

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 The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.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 “nurture”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)

Etymology

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Middle English norture, noriture, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Old French norriture, norreture, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl]  nutritura (“nourishment”), from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Latin nutrire (“to nourish”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈnɜːɹ.tʃəɹ/
• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)tʃə(ɹ)

• Audio (UK):

  (file)

Noun

nurture (countable and uncountable, plural nurtures)

1. The act of nourishing or nursing; tender care

   Synonyms: upbringing, raising, education, training

2. That which nourishes; food; diet.
   • 1596, Edmund Spenser, A Veue of the Present State of Ireland

     Other great houses there be of the English in Ireland, which, through licentious conversing with the Irish, or marrying, or fostering with them or lack of meet nurture, or other such unhappy occasions, have degenerated from their ancient dignities and are now grown as Irish as O'Hanlon's breech, as the proverb there is.

3. The environmental influences that contribute to the development of an individual (as opposed to "nature").
   • 1649, John Milton, Eikonoklastes

     A man neither by nature nor by nurture wise.

Translations

act of nourishing or nursing; tender care; education; training

• Czech: výchova (cs) f
• Finnish: hoito (fi), kasvatus (fi)
• Galician: coidado (gl) m
• German: Umsorgen n, Umhegen n, Päppeln n
• Greek: γαλούχηση (el) f (galoúchisi), ανατροφή (el) f (anatrofí)

  Ancient: τροφή f (trophḗ)

• Irish: oiliúint f
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Japanese: 育成 (ikusei)
• Romanian: educare (ro) f, creștere (ro) f, cultivare (ro)
• Serbo-Croatian: briga (sh) f
• Spanish: cuidado (es), crianza (es), ternura (es), levantamiento (es), desarollamiento
• Welsh: magu (cy)

that which nourishes; food; diet

• Arabic: تنشئَة (ar), تَرْبِيَة (ar) (tarbiya), (tarbyah)
• Czech: výživa (cs) f
• Finnish: ravinto (fi)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Galician: alimento (gl) m
• Greek: τροφή (el) f (trofí), διατροφή (el) f (diatrofí)
• Spanish: alimento (es)

environmental influences that contribute to the development of an individual

• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• German: Erziehung (de) f, Pflege (de) f, Umwelteinflüsse f

Verb

1. To nourish or nurse.
2. (figuratively, by extension) To encourage, especially the growth or development of something.
   • 2009, UNESCO, The United Nations World Water Development Report – N° 3 - 2009 – Freshwater and International Law (the Interplay between Universal, Regional and Basin Perspectives), page 10, →ISBN

     The relationships between universal norms and specific norms nurture the development of international law.

Synonyms

• (figuratively, to encourage): See Thesaurus:nurture

Related terms

• nourish
• nourishment
• nurse
• nursery
• nurturance
• nutrient
• nutriment
• nutrition
• nutritional
• nutritious
• nutritive

Translations

to nourish or nurse

• Finnish: hoitaa (fi), kasvattaa (fi)
• French: nourrir (fr)
• Galician: criar (gl)
• German: umsorgen (de), hegen und pflegen (de)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Greek: τρέφω (el) (tréfo), διατρέφω (el) (diatréfo)
• Japanese: 育成する (ikusei-suru)
• Mandarin: 养育 (zh) (yǎngyù)
• Spanish: criar (es), nutrir (es)

figuratively, to encourage

• French: favoriser (fr), alimenter (fr)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• German: fördern (de), voranbringen (de)

Further reading

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

Anagrams

• U-turner, untruer

---

Middle English

Noun

nurture

1. Alternative form of norture