nurture

[nur-cher]

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.

noun

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

2. development.

   the nurture of young artists.

3. something that nourishes; nourishment; food.

nurture

/ 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

verb

1. to feed or support

2. to educate or train

Other Word Forms

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of nurture¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of nurture¹

C14: from Old French norriture, from Latin nutrīre to nourish

Synonym Study

See nurse.

Example Sentences

Donkeys, including a couple, Clyde and Opal, patrol the vineyards to fend off coyotes, while chickens and sheep rotate through the rows, and hawks and owls are nurtured to deter rodents.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Beijing planted investment seeds under the last Peronist government that Milei would do well to nurture, from lithium mines to a space exploration center.

Read more on Barron's

But it was away from the locker room that Jones, now 49, nurtured his relationship with James.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

They rarely work with finished products; instead, they nurture embryonic ideas.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Unmentioned, though, is Israel’s direct, nondiscriminatory, affirmative nurturing of Israeli Arab families.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal