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📕 rednote ID(小红书号)：3881567312

Nurture: Definition, Usage & Common Mistakes (2 meaning)

Meaning 1：care for and develop (nurture)

nurture 🔊

/ˈnɜːrtʃər/

vt./n.

To care for and help something or someone grow and develop, like taking care of a plant or a talent.

Nurture meaning illustrated by hands caring for a young plant growth.

care for and develop 🔊

➕

kair for and dih-vel-uhp

vt./n.

This meaning refers to the active process of providing care, support, and favorable conditions to encourage the growth, development, or success of a living being, an idea, a relationship, or a skill.

📁 Category：School Education 🔖 Level：Intermediate

📘 Details & Usage

📖 Root Explanation

From Old French 'nourriture' (nourishment), which itself derives from Late Latin 'nutritura' (a nursing, nourishing), from the Latin verb 'nutrire' (to suckle, nourish, foster).

💡 Mnemonic

Imagine a **NURSE** in a **NURSERY** gently caring for a baby. Both 'nurse' and 'nursery' share the same root as 'nurture', helping you remember it means to care for and help grow.

📖 Example

Good teachers nurture their students' curiosity by encouraging them to ask questions. 🔊 Good teachers care for and develop their students' curiosity by encouraging them to ask questions.

🔗 Collocations

nurture a talent – to help a natural ability grow and improve through care and training

nurture relationships – to invest time and effort into making personal or professional connections stronger and healthier

nurture growth – to provide the necessary conditions for physical, economic, or personal expansion

🔄 Synonyms

foster (vt.) – To encourage or promote the development of something, typically something regarded as good.

cultivate (vt.) – To try to acquire or develop a quality, skill, or relationship through sustained effort.

🚫 Antonyms

neglect (vt.) – To fail to care for or pay proper attention to someone or something.

stifle (vt.) – To prevent or restrain something from developing or being expressed.

🌱 Derivatives

nurturer (n.) – A person who provides care, support, and encouragement for growth.

📖 Cultural Story

The word 'nurture' has a strong presence in the long-standing 'nature versus nurture' debate in psychology, sociology, and education. This debate explores the relative influences of genetics ('nature') and environment, upbringing, and experience ('nurture') on human development. The term is frequently used in academic papers, parenting guides, and policy discussions concerning early childhood development and education.

Meaning 2：upbringing and environment (nurture)

nurture 🔊

/ˈnɜːrtʃər/

vt./n.

The care, education, and environment a person receives while growing up, which shapes who they become.

Nurture as upbringing scene showing parent reading to child in warm environment.

upbringing and environment 🔊

➕

uhp-bring-ing and en-vahy-ern-muhnt

vt./n.

This meaning refers to the sum total of the environmental factors, experiences, care, and education that influence an individual's development from childhood, often contrasted with inborn traits ('nature').

📁 Category：Social Roles 🔖 Level：Intermediate

📘 Details & Usage

📖 Example

He believes that a person's success is influenced by both nature (genetics) and nurture (upbringing and environment). 🔊 He believes that a person's success is influenced by both nature (genetics) and upbringing and environment.

🔗 Collocations

nature versus nurture – the debate about the influence of inherited characteristics versus life experience on development

the effects of nurture – the impacts that upbringing, education, and environment have on a person

🔄 Synonyms

upbringing (n.) – The treatment and instruction received by a child from its parents throughout its childhood.

socialization (n.) – The process of learning to behave in a way that is acceptable to society, often through upbringing.

🚫 Antonyms

nature (n.) – In this context, the innate, inherited influences on a person, as opposed to environmental ones.