nourish

B2 Topic:Emotions & Feelings

US /ˈnʌɹ.ɪʃ/ See IPA manual

Freq #27564

Meanings

1

verb
To give a person, animal, or plant the food it needs to live and grow.

A healthy diet nourishes the body and keeps you strong.
2

verb
To keep a feeling, idea, or hope alive and help it grow.

She nourished the dream of becoming a doctor for many years.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to give a person, animal,... nurture feed

2 verb · to keep a feeling, idea, or... foster

Word family

Forms nourishednourishesnourishing

Derived forms malnourishmalnourishmentnourishablenourishernourishingnourishmentovernourishrenourishundernourishwell-nourished

Related forms nurse nurture nutriment nutrition

Etymology

From Middle English norischen, from Old French nouriss-, stem of one of the conjugated forms of norrir, from Latin nutriō (“to suckle, feed, foster, nourish, cherish, preserve, support”).

*(s)neh₂- Proto-Indo-European norischen Middle English nutriō Latin

View etymology graph ->

External links

# nourish

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** /ˈnʌɹ.ɪʃ/
**Frequency rank:** 27564

## Meanings
1. To give a person, animal, or plant the food it needs to live and grow.
2. To keep a feeling, idea, or hope alive and help it grow.

## Examples
- A healthy diet nourishes the body and keeps you strong.
- She nourished the dream of becoming a doctor for many years.

## Derived Forms
- malnourish
- malnourishment
- nourishable
- nourisher
- nourishing
- nourishment
- overnourish
- renourish
- undernourish
- well-nourished

## Related Forms
- nurse
- nurture
- nutriment
- nutrition

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *(s)neh₂-
- Root: norischen
- Root: nutriō

## Etymology
From Middle English norischen, from Old French nouriss-, stem of one of the conjugated forms of norrir, from Latin nutriō (“to suckle, feed, foster, nourish, cherish, preserve, support”).

## AI Etymology
Nourish comes from Middle English norischen, from Old French nouriss-, stem of one of the conjugated forms of norrir, from Latin nutriō (“to suckle, feed, foster, nourish, cherish, preserve, support”). The historical chain includes Proto-Indo-European *(s)neh₂-, Middle English norischen, and Latin nutriō. Modern senses include to give a person, animal, or plant the food it needs to live and grow and to keep a feeling, idea, or hope alive and help it grow. The wider word family includes derivatives such as malnourish, malnourishment, nourishable, nourisher, nourishing, and nourishment and related forms such as nurse, nurture, nutriment, and nutrition.

## Topics
- Emotions & Feelings
- Actions & Processes

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nourish

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