nutrient

[noo-tree-uhnt, nyoo-]

adjective

1. nourishing; nourishing; providing nourishment or nutriment.

2. containing or conveying nutriment, as solutions or vessels of the body.

noun

1. a nutrient substance.

nutrient

/ ˈnjuːtrɪənt /

noun

1. any of the mineral substances that are absorbed by the roots of plants for nourishment

2. any substance that nourishes an organism

adjective

1. providing or contributing to nourishment

   a nutrient solution

nutrient

1. A substance that provides nourishment for growth or metabolism. Plants absorb nutrients mainly from the soil in the form of minerals and other inorganic compounds, and animals obtain nutrients from ingested foods.

Other Word Forms

• nonnutrient adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of nutrient¹

First recorded in 1640–50; from Latin nūtrient-, stem of nūtriēns “feeding,” present participle of nūtrīre “to feed”; nourish

Word History and Origins

Origin of nutrient¹

C17: from Latin nūtrīre to nourish

Example Sentences

Coccolithophores often dominate vast stretches of the ocean, but climate change is altering the temperature, chemistry, and nutrient makeup of seawater.

Read more on Science Daily

They "play a central role in the food web, consuming fish and invertebrates and recycling nutrients" and are one of the "keystone species" of their ecosystem.

Read more on Barron's

It’s the junk their brains are ingesting—or the essential nutrients they aren’t taking in.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Orchid seeds are as small as dust and do not provide any nutrients for the young plant to grow.

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Runoff from the fires added fewer nutrients over the course of the bloom than sewage treatment facilities did, he said.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• fiber 
• food 
• mineral 
• vitamin