Definitions

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

  • noun The action of raising or caring for offspring.
  • noun Biology The sum of environmental influences and conditions acting on an organism, especially in contrast to heredity.
  • noun The fostering or overseeing of the development of something.
  • noun Something that nourishes; sustenance.
  • transitive verb To raise or educate (a child, for example).
  • transitive verb To encourage or help develop; cultivate.
  • transitive verb To provide sustenance for; nourish.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To feed; nourish.
  • To educate; bring or train up.
  • Synonyms and Nurse, Nourish, Nurture. These words are of the same origin. Nurse has the least, and nourish much, of figurative use. Nurture expresses most of thoughtful care and moral discipline: it is not now used in any but this secondary sense.
  • To instruct, school, rear, breed, discipline.
  • noun The act of supplying with nourishment; the act or process of cultivating or promoting growth.
  • noun Upbringing; training; discipline; instruction; education; breeding, especially good breeding.
  • noun Nourishment; that which nourishes; food; diet.
  • noun Synonyms Training, Discipline, etc. (see instruction), schooling.

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

  • noun The act of nourishing or nursing; tender care; education; training.
  • noun That which nourishes; food; diet.
  • transitive verb To feed; to nourish.
  • transitive verb To educate; to bring or train up.

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

  • noun The act of nourishing or nursing; tender care; education; training.
  • noun That which nourishes; food; diet.
  • noun The environmental influences that contribute to the development of an individual; see also nature.
  • verb to nourish or nurse

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

  • verb provide with nourishment
  • noun the properties acquired as a consequence of the way you were treated as a child
  • noun helping someone grow up to be an accepted member of the community
  • verb bring up
  • verb help develop, help grow

Etymologies

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

[Middle English, from Old French, from Late Latin nūtrītūra, act of suckling, from Latin nūtrītus, past participle of nūtrīre, to suckle; see (s)nāu- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English norture, noriture, from Old French norriture, norreture, from Late Latin nutritura ("nourishment"), from Latin nutrire ("to nourish").

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