nourish

Nourish means to promote healthy growth—to do or provide what’s needed for someone or something to be healthy and to grow and develop.

The word is most commonly used in relation to food. Healthy food nourishes us. Parents try to nourish their children by feeding them healthy foods. Sometimes, food is said to nourish more than the body, as in A warm, home-cooked meal nourishes the body and the spirit. 

However, nourish can be used in many other contexts, including those that don’t involve food, as in Education nourishes our minds. 

In the context of the growth and development of things, such as communities and relationships, nourish means to build up or promote, as in This grant is intended to nourish the local arts and culture scene. A more common synonym for this sense of the word is nurture.

In all of these senses, nourish is a somewhat formal and perhaps poetic word—it usually means something loftier than feed.

Less commonly, nourish can mean to cherish, foster, or keep alive, especially something abstract, like hopes or dreams. This isn’t always something positive—you can nourish a grudge, for example.

The word nourished is often used as an adjective, including in terms like well nourished, poorly nourished, undernourished, and malnourished. Things that nourish can be described with the adjective nourishing. The noun nourishment can refer to the act of nourishing or to something that nourishes.

Example: As a mother, it’s my job to nourish my kids physically, mentally, and emotionally.

The first records of the word nourish come from the 1200s. It comes from the Latin verb nūtrīre, meaning “to feed” or “to care for.” The words nurture, nutrition, nutritious, and nurse are based on the same root.

Nourish is closely associated with food, and even its senses that don’t literally involve food are usually likened to providing nourishing food to help someone or something grow healthy and strong. This is almost always positive. You can nourish your loved ones with love and affection, and you can nourish your mind with knowledge.

To undernourish is to fail to provide enough of what’s needed for someone or something to be healthy and to grow and develop. The word is especially used in the context of nutrition, but it can be used in the same figurative ways as nourish.

What are some other forms related to nourish?

• nourishing (adjective)
• nourishment (noun)
• nourisher (noun)
• undernourish (verb)
• undernourished (past tense verb, adjective)
• overnourish (verb)
• malnourished (adjective)

What are some synonyms for nourish?

• feed
• sustain
• nurture
• cultivate
• cherish
• foster

What are some words that share a root or word element with nourish? 

• nurture
• nutrition
• nutritious
• nurse

What are some words that often get used in discussing nourish?

• food
• body
• mind
• soul
• spirit
• plant
• skin
• nutrient
• healthy
• grow
• strong
• develop

Nourish and its related words are closely associated with food, but they can be used in a variety of contexts.

Cooking is critical. Even if you're alone, it nourishes the body and spirit to serve yourself something excellent, prepared with pride.

— autumn leaf (@this_is_cozy) January 7, 2018

Everything can nourish the writer. The dictionary, a new word, a voyage, an encounter…a book, a phrase learned.
ANAÏS NIN#amwriting #book pic.twitter.com/QeJ6QwETua

— Novelicious (@noveliciouss) October 28, 2020

I wish for a world that values fairy tales, poetry, museums, libraries, and the arts. A world that sees these things not as expendable but ever necessary to nourish the human spirit.

— Into The Forest Dark (@ElliottBlackwe3) October 28, 2020

Which of the following words is NOT a synonym of nourish?

A. sustain
B. nurture
C. weaken
D. cultivate