nurture

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nur·ture

(nûr′chər)

a. The action of raising or caring for offspring: the nurture of an infant.

b. Biology The sum of environmental influences and conditions acting on an organism, especially in contrast to heredity.

c. The fostering or overseeing of the development of something: the nurture of an idea.

2. Something that nourishes; sustenance: "The butterfly poked its tiny proboscis down into her hair, probing for nurture" (Barbara Kingsolver).

tr.v. nur·tured, nur·tur·ing, nur·tures

a. To raise or educate (a child, for example).

b. To encourage or help develop; cultivate: "a small college town that had nurtured his intellectual and creative pursuits" (James S. Hirsch).

2. To provide sustenance for; nourish: the meadow that nurtures the cattle.

[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.]

nur′tur·er n.

Synonyms: nurture, cultivate, foster, nurse
These verbs mean to promote and sustain the growth and development of: nurturing hopes; cultivating tolerance; foster friendly relations; nursed the fledgling business.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

nurture

(ˈnɜːtʃə)

1. the act or process of promoting the development, etc, of a child

2. something that nourishes

3. (Biology) biology the environmental factors that partly determine the structure of an organism. See also nature¹²

vb (tr)

4. to feed or support

5. to educate or train

[C14: from Old French norriture, from Latin nutrīre to nourish]

ˈnurturable adj

ˈnurturer n

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

nur•ture

(ˈnɜr tʃər)

v. -tured, -tur•ing,
n. v.t.

1. to feed and protect or support and encourage.

2. to bring up; train; educate.

3. upbringing; training; education.

4. development: the nurture of young artists.

5. something that nourishes; food.

[1300–50; (n.) Middle English norture < Middle French nour(ri)ture < Late Latin nūtrītūra a nourishing]

nur′tur•er, n.

nurture

- The verb was formed after the noun, which first referred (c. 1330) to a person's training or breeding. The word can be traced back to Latin nutritus, meaning "to nourish."

nurture

Past participle: nurtured
Gerund: nurturing

Imperative
nurture
nurture

Present
I nurture
you nurture
he/she/it nurtures
we nurture
you nurture
they nurture

Preterite
I nurtured
you nurtured
he/she/it nurtured
we nurtured
you nurtured
they nurtured

Present Continuous
I am nurturing
you are nurturing
he/she/it is nurturing
we are nurturing
you are nurturing
they are nurturing

Present Perfect
I have nurtured
you have nurtured
he/she/it has nurtured
we have nurtured
you have nurtured
they have nurtured

Past Continuous
I was nurturing
you were nurturing
he/she/it was nurturing
we were nurturing
you were nurturing
they were nurturing

Past Perfect
I had nurtured
you had nurtured
he/she/it had nurtured
we had nurtured
you had nurtured
they had nurtured

Future
I will nurture
you will nurture
he/she/it will nurture
we will nurture
you will nurture
they will nurture

Future Perfect
I will have nurtured
you will have nurtured
he/she/it will have nurtured
we will have nurtured
you will have nurtured
they will have nurtured

Future Continuous
I will be nurturing
you will be nurturing
he/she/it will be nurturing
we will be nurturing
you will be nurturing
they will be nurturing

Present Perfect Continuous
I have been nurturing
you have been nurturing
he/she/it has been nurturing
we have been nurturing
you have been nurturing
they have been nurturing

Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been nurturing
you will have been nurturing
he/she/it will have been nurturing
we will have been nurturing
you will have been nurturing
they will have been nurturing

Past Perfect Continuous
I had been nurturing
you had been nurturing
he/she/it had been nurturing
we had been nurturing
you had been nurturing
they had been nurturing

Conditional
I would nurture
you would nurture
he/she/it would nurture
we would nurture
you would nurture
they would nurture

Past Conditional
I would have nurtured
you would have nurtured
he/she/it would have nurtured
we would have nurtured
you would have nurtured
they would have nurtured

Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun	1.	nurture - the properties acquired as a consequence of the way you were treated as a child rearing, raising upbringing - properties acquired during a person's formative years
	2.	nurture - helping someone grow up to be an accepted member of the community; "they debated whether nature or nurture was more important" bringing up, fosterage, fostering, rearing, upbringing, breeding, raising acculturation, enculturation, socialisation, socialization - the adoption of the behavior patterns of the surrounding culture; "the socialization of children to the norms of their culture"
Verb	1.	nurture - help develop, help grow; "nurture his talents" foster patronage, keep going, patronise, patronize, support - be a regular customer or client of; "We patronize this store"; "Our sponsor kept our art studio going for as long as he could" encourage - inspire with confidence; give hope or courage to serve well, serve - promote, benefit, or be useful or beneficial to; "Art serves commerce"; "Their interests are served"; "The lake serves recreation"; "The President's wisdom has served the country well"
	2.	nurture - bring up; "raise a family"; "bring up children" parent, bring up, rear, raise fledge - feed, care for, and rear young birds for flight cradle - bring up from infancy foster - bring up under fosterage; of children
	3.	nurture - provide with nourishment; "We sustained ourselves on bread and water"; "This kind of food is not nourishing for young children" nourish, sustain cater, ply, provide, supply - give what is desired or needed, especially support, food or sustenance; "The hostess provided lunch for all the guests" carry - be able to feed; "This land will carry ten cows to the acre"

nurture

verb

1. bring up, raise, look after, rear, care for, develop Parents want to know the best way to nurture and raise their children to adulthood.
bring up ignore, overlook, neglect, deprive, disregard

2. tend, grow, cultivate The modern conservatory is not an environment for nurturing plants.

3. encourage, support, sustain, cultivate Seema's interest in literature was nurtured by her parents.

noun

1. upbringing, training, education, instruction, rearing, development The human organism learns partly by nature, partly by nurture.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

nurture

noun

Something fit to be eaten:

aliment, bread, comestible, diet, edible, esculent, fare, food, foodstuff, meat, nourishment, nutriment, nutrition, pabulum, pap, provender, provision (used in plural), sustenance, victual.

Slang: chow, eats, grub.

verb

To promote and sustain the development of:

cultivate, foster, nourish, nurse.

Translations

تَنْشِئَه، تَرْبِيَه، عِنايَه، غِذاءيُغَذّي، يُرَبِّي، يُنْشِئ

chovatpéčepěstovatvýchovavychovávat

nærenæringopfostreopfostring

aufziehen Pflege

criar educación educar crianza

hoitokasvatusravinto

alimenter élever nourrir soins

táplálás

fóstra, ala uppumönnun, uppfóstrun

allevare

audzēšanaaudzētaudzināšanaaudzināt

ernære oppfostring

bakıp beslemebakıp beslemekbakıp büyütmebakıp büyütmek

养育培育

nurture

[ˈnɜːtʃəʳ]

A. VT

1. (= bring up) → criar, educar

2. (= nourish) → nutrir, alimentar

B. N

1. (= bringing-up) → educación f, crianza f
nature or nurture → naturaleza o educación

2. (= nourishment) → nutrición f

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

nurture

[ˈnɜː^rtʃə^r] vt

(= encourage) [+ person] → former; [+ talent] → encourager

[+ hopes, ambition] → nourrir; [+ dream] → caresser
He nurtured an ambition to become a diplomat → Il nourrissait l'ambition de devenir diplomate.
He nurtured a dream of becoming a world-famous conductor → Il caressait le rêve de devenir un chef d'orchestre mondialement célèbre.
They nurture a dream of a fairer society
BUT Ils rêvent d'une société plus juste.

(= raise) [+ child] → élever; [+ plant] → faire pousser

nurture

n (= nourishing) → Hegen nt; (= upbringing) → Erziehung f, → Bildung f

sb’s talent → entwickeln; idea, ambitions → hegen; to nurture somebody on something (lit, fig) → jdn mit etw aufziehen

(fig: = train) → hegen und pflegen

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

nurture

[ˈnɜːtʃəʳ] vt (rear) → allevare con amore; (feed) → nutrire

nurture

(ˈnəːtʃə) verb

to encourage the growth and development of (a child, plant etc).

noun

care; help in growing or developing.

nurture

vt nutrir, criar, apoyar

Mentioned in ?

References in classic literature ?

What you have never nurtured in me, you have never nurtured in yourself; but O!

View in context

'Well then, since you were brought into the world and nurtured and educated by us, can you deny in the first place that you are our child and slave, as your fathers were before you?

For, having brought you into the world, and nurtured and educated you, and given you and every other citizen a share in every good which we had to give, we further proclaim to any Athenian by the liberty which we allow him, that if he does not like us when he has become of age and has seen the ways of the city, and made our acquaintance, he may go where he pleases and take his goods with him.

View in context

In one word, Queequeg, said I, rather digressively; hell is an idea first born on an undigested apple-dumpling; and since then perpetuated through the hereditary dyspepsias nurtured by Ramadans.

View in context

His story was this: He had been originally nurtured among the crazy society of Neskyeuna Shakers, where he had been a great prophet; in their cracked, secret meetings having several times descended from heaven by the way of a trap-door, announcing the speedy opening of the seventh vial, which he carried in his vest-pocket; but, which, instead of containing gunpowder, was supposed to be charged with laudanum.

View in context

Yet such men as he are reared here and there in every generation of our peasant artisans--with an inheritance of affections nurtured by a simple family life of common need and common industry, and an inheritance of faculties trained in skilful courageous labour: they make their way upwards, rarely as geniuses, most commonly as painstaking honest men, with the skill and conscience to do well the tasks that lie before them.

View in context

Look where he would, some heap of ruins afforded him rich promise of a working off; the whole town appeared to have been ploughed and sown, and nurtured by most genial weather; and a goodly harvest was at hand.

View in context

I was nurtured in the sense of privation; I never expected happiness; and in knowing you, in loving you, I have had, and still have, what reconciles me to life.

View in context

Then, when we reach Achaean Argos, wealthiest of all lands, he shall be my son-in-law and I will show him like honour with my own dear son Orestes, who is being nurtured in all abundance.

Then, when we reach Achaean Argos, wealthiest of all lands, you shall be his son-in-law, and he will show you like honour with his own dear son Orestes, who is being nurtured in all abundance.

View in context

Thoughtful hands had taken care of the vines and rose-bushes on the trellises; water--that precious element in Devil's Ford--had not been spared in keeping green through the long drought the plants which the girls had so tenderly nurtured. It was the one oasis in which the summer still lingered; and yet a singular sense of loss came over the girls as they once more crossed its threshold.

View in context

They are nurtured and in turn they learn to respect each other and those who nurture them.