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.

---

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

In Emery, Madjo has got the perfect manager to nurture his development too, and I think he could make his mark across all competitions this season.

From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026

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

It takes a long time to nurture, it has to be cultivated from the ground up.

From Salon ● Jun. 22, 2026

The EU has come under increased pressure to nurture its own cloud sector to counter U.S. tech dominance.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 3, 2026

But it kind of feels nice to nurture her resentment, to foster it.

From "Orphan Train" by Christina Baker Kline

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

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

From BBC ● Dec. 4, 2024

She notes how on one hand the fruit nurtures desire, while on the other it purges memory like a poison.

From Salon ● Jul. 22, 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

It is someone who raises and nurtures you.

From "Enrique's Journey" by Sonia Nazario

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

But the seed was planted, and then nurtured in the soil of the Declaration’s call for liberty and self-government.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026

"It is time for Whitehall to accept that growth cannot be ordered from the top down - it can only be nurtured from the bottom up," Burnham said.

From BBC ● Jul. 1, 2026

The sandblasters have been here, the skylight people; inside, the benjamina trees and tropical climbers have taken over, ousting the mangy African violets once nurtured on kitchen windowsills.

From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood

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

Working out, sticking with hobbies, going on trips, setting goals, nurturing your relationships both at home and beyond, etc.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 25, 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

Since I wasn’t able to spend it in the Archives, I spent some time nurturing my budding reputation.

From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss