nurture

American  

[nur-cher] / ˈnɜr tʃər /

verb (used with object)

nurtured, nurturing

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

Related Words

See nurse.

Other Word Forms

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

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; nourish, -ure; (verb) derivative of the noun

Example Sentences

“They nurture artists in the way that record labels used to do,” Fink said.

From Los Angeles Times

The younger Belichick's understanding of football was also nurtured by his mother, Jeannette, with whom he spent many weekends watching games on TV.

From BBC

American money and expertise helped to nurture the region’s car industry after World War II.

From The Wall Street Journal

Marking the museum’s 25th anniversary, the Frist looks at this underappreciated history of the city through a female lens and examines the way women have nurtured the arts there.

From The Wall Street Journal

It’s an agreeably heartfelt reminder that children are powered by an imaginative daring and purity of bonding we’d be wise to nurture, not squelch, if we’re going to learn how to inhabit the increasingly uninhabitable.

From Los Angeles Times