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

---

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

Hunnam believes that in Gein’s case it was a combination of nature and nurture that shaped him.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026

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

From Salon ● Jul. 21, 2026

She said the charity was looking forward to supporting Lawrence's work in communities across England "to explore how sharing stories can strengthen wellbeing, build relationships and nurture meaningful community connection".

From BBC ● Jul. 7, 2026

“She’s always having to get out of her comfort zone, no matter what,” said Mario Thompson, whose job as Zoe’s father is to both nurture and protect his daughter’s talent.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 30, 2026

Her uncle had taken her on this trip as a favor, to nurture her budding talent.

From "If I Stay" by Gayle Forman

"Hey, who knows what's around the corner, but pop music nurtures me... my passion for music is greater than ever."

From BBC ● May 20, 2026

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

Berlin’s international reputation as a liberal, relaxed city that nurtures artists’ freedom to express whatever they want is under threat.

From New York Times ● Apr. 29, 2024

The water roars and tumbles below us, sending up a soft spray that nurtures mosses and maidenhair ferns where it falls.

From "On the Far Side of the Mountain" by Jean Craighead George

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

She nurtured me and allowed my artistic side to grow.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026

The term “parasocial” has become synonymous with Swift’s relationship to her fan base, which she’s built and nurtured via strategic disclosure and thoughtfully relatable vulnerability.

From Salon ● Jul. 9, 2026

More: Hardcore gamers nurtured Nvidia and the AI boom.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 6, 2026

For three years she must have nurtured a feeling for him, kept it hidden, nourished it with fantasy or embellished it in her stories.

From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan

He reduces Bourdain to a zygote who simply needed enough nurturing to become his older, cooler self, when he could, instead, read between the lines to find what makes young Tony special.

From Salon ● Aug. 12, 2026

Complicating matters, he has never been particularly generous or nurturing, and he has no spouse, children or other immediate next of kin.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 5, 2026

They came to us fragile and old, and our nurturing turned back their biological clocks.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026

After her visit to Ipswich last year, Nandy described the town as a "model" for upcoming musicians, with "an entire ecosystem" dedicated to nurturing new talent.

From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026

He now made his first appeal to a source he had been carefully nurturing for more than a year.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik