nurture

American  

[nur-cher] / ˈnɜr tʃər /

verb (used with object)

• nurtures,
  present (3rd person singular)
• nurtured,
  past participle,  past
• nurturing
  present participle

1. to feed and protect.

   to nurture one's offspring.

2. to support and encourage, as during the period of training or development; foster.

   to nurture promising musicians.

3. to bring up; train; educate.

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noun

1. rearing, upbringing, training, education, or the like.

2. development.

   the nurture of young artists.

3. something that nourishes; nourishment; food.

nurture British  

/ ˈnɜːtʃə /

noun

1. the act or process of promoting the development, etc, of a child

2. something that nourishes

3. biology the environmental factors that partly determine the structure of an organism See also nature

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verb

1. to feed or support

2. to educate or train

Synonym Usage

See nurse.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nurturer
  noun
• nurturable
  adjective
• nurtureless
  adjective
• unnurtured
  adjective
• well-nurtured
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• nurturing
  present
• nurtured
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• nurture
  simple
• nurtures
  simple
• have nurtured
  perfect
• has nurtured
  perfect
• am nurturing
  progressive
• are nurturing
  progressive
• is nurturing
  progressive
• have been nurturing
  perfect progressive
• has been nurturing
  perfect progressive

Past

• nurtured
  simple
• had nurtured
  perfect
• was nurturing
  progressive
• were nurturing
  progressive
• had been nurturing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will nurture
  simple
• will have nurtured
  perfect
• will be nurturing
  progressive
• will have been nurturing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of nurture

First recorded in 1300–50; (noun) Middle English norture, from Middle French, variant of nourriture, from Late Latin nūtrītūra “a nourishing,” equivalent to Latin nūtrīt(us) (past participle of nūtrīre “to feed”) + -ūra noun suffix; see nourish, -ure; (verb) derivative of the noun

Explanation

If you plant a seed, water it daily and give it lots of light, you nurture it until it is ready to be transplanted outside. When you nurture a person or thing, you care for it and help it to grow. After a fight with your friend, you may have to nurture the relationship a little until you're close again. Use the phrase "nature versus nurture" to help you remember the word. Nature is a baby just out of the womb. Nurture is how that baby is raised or taken care of. Once the child is older, you may wonder if its love of reading is nature or nurture — is it natural born or is it because you read to the baby every night.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

nurture nurtures nurtured nurturing

American Presbyterians in 1788 adapted this to assert that civil government has a duty to nurture public piety and protect the religious expression of all people.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026

The nurture, as we see it here, was far, far worse than his nature.

From Salon ● Jul. 21, 2026

She concentrated on her theatre work, which Keith had continued to nurture alongside TV - particularly comedy classics from the likes of Noel Coward and Oscar Wilde.

From BBC ● Jun. 29, 2026

And now, no matter what she throws at me, I just love her, and take care of her, and I want to nurture her.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 2, 2026

And yet, part of her—a growing part of her—wanted only to nurture the delicate bloom between them.

From "Huntress" by Malinda Lo

Conventional wisdom now has it that Hollywood no longer creates and nurtures young stars in the way it once did.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2025

In actuality, what it nurtures and rewards is dutiful followership.

From Salon ● Jan. 12, 2025

The domestic game nurtures talent and its importance to the sport in our country should not be underestimated.

From BBC ● Dec. 4, 2024

It honors the dead by making them alive again and nurtures the living by providing a place to put a daughter’s love and rage.

From New York Times ● Apr. 25, 2024

Perhaps it originally represented the important insight that the sky nurtures the Earth; if so, that meaning seems to have been forgotten millennia ago.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan

This demonstrated that the neuropeptides were not merely associated with caregiving but could actively influence whether an ant nurtured larvae or went searching for food.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 1, 2026

More: Hardcore gamers nurtured Nvidia and the AI boom.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 6, 2026

The team was willing to give up Brown—a five-time All-Star whom the Celtics had drafted, partnered with Tatum and nurtured into a champion—to acquire the best player available.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 3, 2026

Civic life must be nurtured and renewed each generation.

From Salon ● Jun. 30, 2026

“It was enough just to be able to create this place. To be able to say I did it. To say I nurtured a medieval atmosphere in a modern, incredulous world.”

From "The Martian Chronicles" by Ray Bradbury

The time AI has saved us can go toward learning new skills, exploring more opportunities and nurturing relationships—a uniquely human activity technology can never replace.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026

“Many same-sex couples provide loving and nurturing homes to their children, whether biological or adopted. And hundreds of thousands of children are presently being raised by such couples.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 26, 2026

Parallel to Byrd’s stirring public advocacy is a crucial personal thread: her nurturing of Shelly, whose progressing dementia requires regular supervision.

From Salon ● Jul. 10, 2026

"It seems really enjoyable. Academy coaches have all got their eyes on the next person coming through and nurturing them coming through."

From BBC ● Jun. 20, 2026

His story makes clear that education is a long, unglamorous, even demeaning process—a nurturing never natural to the person one was before one entered a classroom.

From "Hunger of Memory" by Richard Rodriguez