Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A source of nourishment, especially a nourishing ingredient in a food.
  • adjective Providing nourishment.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Affording nutriment or nourishment; nourishing; nutritive; nutritious.
  • Conveying or purveying nourishment; alimentative: as, nutrient vessels.
  • noun A nutrient substance; something nutritious.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Nutritious; nourishing; promoting growth.
  • noun Any substance which has nutritious qualities, i. e., which nourishes or promotes growth; a nutriment.
  • noun (Microbiology) A substance added to the growth medium of a microorganism to promote growth.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A source of nourishment, such as food, that can be metabolized by an organism to give energy and build tissue.
  • adjective providing nourishment

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun any substance that can be metabolized by an animal to give energy and build tissue
  • adjective of or providing nourishment
  • noun any substance (such as a chemical element or inorganic compound) that can be taken in by a green plant and used in organic synthesis

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin nūtriēns, nūtrient-, present participle of nūtrīre, to suckle; see (s)nāu- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin nutriens, present participle of nutrire ("to suckle, nourish, foster").

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Examples

  • The marine environments are highly varied and are associated with water temperature regimes differing in nutrient and light levels.

    Galápagos National Park & Galápagos Marine Resources Reserve, Ecuador 2009

  • The nutrient is thought to improve balance as well as maintain muscle mass in older people.

    Training Elderly People in Martial Arts Could Cut Their Risk of Injuries from Falls | Impact Lab 2010

  • (Which is not to stay we could use all of that straw to produce ethanol and other biofuels: some straw needs to be left on the field after harvest to help prevent soil erosion and maintain nutrient levels, and quite a lot of it already has its uses, as feed and bedding for cattle.)

    Spinning straw into liquid gold ewillett 2008

  • There are dozens of examples like this of diseases caused by long-term nutrient deficiency.

    The UltraMind Solution M.D. Mark Hyman 2009

  • An increase in nutrient input in the Baltic is compromising water clarity by promoting algal blooms.

    July 19th, 2007 2007

  • The other part asked patients to choose which of two foods had more or less of a certain nutrient, giving patients a 50/50 chance to guess the correct food item.

    Archive 2006-09-01 Steve Carper 2006

  • The other part asked patients to choose which of two foods had more or less of a certain nutrient, giving patients a 50/50 chance to guess the correct food item.

    Food Labels Not Understood by the Sick Steve Carper 2006

  • I was constantly hooked in, floating in nutrient-gel, eyes covered, fingers locked, steering, loading and filtering information so that people engaged in other pursuits could be kept current on politics, art, media and technology.

    365 tomorrows » 2005 » September : A New Free Flash Fiction SciFi Story Every Day 2005

  • Arthritis specialists have long recommended that patients consume an adequate daily amount of vitamin C because the nutrient is both a potent antioxidant and a key player in the formation of joint cartilage.

    Medpundit 2004

  • Arthritis specialists have long recommended that patients consume an adequate daily amount of vitamin C because the nutrient is both a potent antioxidant and a key player in the formation of joint cartilage.

    Archive 2004-06-01 2004

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