nourish

▪ I. † ˈnourish, n. Obs.
    Forms: α. 4 nurishe, 5 -isch(e. β. 4–5 nory(s)she, 5–6 -ishe, 5 -ysch, -isch(e, -yhs. γ. 5 nourysshe, 6 nourish.
    [var. of nurice, norice nourice n. Cf. next.]
    A nurse. Also fig.

α 1382 Wyclif Hos. xi. 3 And Y as a nurishe..bare hem in myn armys. c 1449 Pecock Repr. ii. xii. 219 Euen as a nurisch or a modir is not bounde forto alwey and for euere fede her children. a 1585 Montgomerie Misc. Poems xlviii. 47 Thair tender babis, ȝit on the nurish knee, Tane by the feet and cast into the see. 1600 R. Birrel Diary 2 July, Her nurische was brunt at the same tyme, at 4 houres in the morneing.

attrib. 1483 Cath. Angl. 257/2 A nurische house.

β 1382 Wyclif Gen. xxiv. 59 Thanne thei leten hir, and Delbora, hir noryshe. c 1400 Rule St. Benet (Prose) 121 Idylnesse, þe norisshe of al synnes. 1480 Robt. Devyll 151 in Hazl. E.P.P. I. 225 When that he shoulde soucke, The noryshe nypples..byte he woulde. 1559 W. Cuningham Cosmogr. Glasse 43 Th' Earth..is called the..norishe of lyuing creatures, the foundation of all buildinges.

γ 1480 Caxton Trevisa's Higden i. xxii. (1527) 18 b, Auctours tellen that..Grece..is lady of kyngdomes, Nourysshe of knyghthode. 1502 Ord. Crysten Men (W. de W. 1506) iv. xix. 218 Yf fader or moder or nourysshe, stoppe the breth of a lytell chylde. 1563 Shute Archit. B j b, A certaine maiden, after whose burial her nourishe (who lamented much her death) [etc.]. 1591 Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, i. i. 50 Our Ile be made a Nourish of salt Teares.

▪ II. nourish, v.
    (ˈnʌrɪʃ)
    Forms: α. 3 norisi, 4 -ici, -issi, -isy, -ysy; 3 norischei, 4 -ischi; 4 norice, -isse, -ysse, 6 -esse, 4–5 noris, 4 -ijs; 3 norichce, 4 -iche, 3–5 -ische, 4–5 -issche, -ysche, 5 -yssch, 5–6 -ysshe, 6 -yshe; 4–6 norisshe, 5–6 -ishe, 6– 7 -ish (6 norrish). β. 4, 5–6 Sc., nuris (Sc. 5 nwris, 6 nurys, nureis, nvreis), 6 nurris; 4–5 nurische, 4 (6 Sc.), -ishe, 5 -yche, -ysh, 6 -ys(s)ch; 5–6 nurrish(e, -ysh(e. γ. 5 nouryssche, -isshe, 5–6 -ysshe (6 nowr-), 6 -yshe, 6– nourish.
    [ad. OF. noris(s)-, nuris(s)-, etc., lengthened stem of norir, nurir, nourir, etc. (later nourrir), = It. nodrire, nudrire, nutrire, Sp. nutrir (nudrir, nodrir), Pg. nutrir:—L. nūtrīre to feed, foster, cherish, etc. See also norsh v. and nursh v.]
    I. † 1. trans. To bring up, rear, nurture (a child or young person). Obs.

α c 1290 St. John 372 in S. Eng. Leg. I. 413 Þis bischop nam þis Ioliue man, and ladde hom to is inne, And norichcede him softe and wel. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 6997 He dide hym norice at Wynchestre, And ȝald hym monk in þat same estre. 1382 Wyclif 1 Tim. v. 10 If she norische sones, if she resseyue pore men to herbore. c 1450 St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 2516 He noryscht me þan In Mailros mynster many ȝere. 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. I. cccxiv. 482 He..left the yonger [daughter] styll in Englande, wheras she had been brought vp and norisshed. 1581 Hamilton Tract. in Cath. Tract. (S.T.S.) 75 Hou tenderlie all his forbearis var norishit in the bosome of the Catholik kirk.

absol. c 1290 St. Dunstan 22 in S. Eng. Leg. I. 20 Þo þis child was i-bore,..huy leten hit do to Glastingburi, to norischci and to fede. a 1340 Hampole Psalter xxvi. 16 He takis me to norysch and to rewle, as fadire and modire. c 1489 Caxton Blanchardyn 12 Blanchardyn, the chylde, was taken in to the handes of a right noble lady of the lande for to norysshe and bryngen vp.

β c 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 4198 He sal be lered,..And nurist and mast conversand In þe cite of Bethsayda. c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) xiii. 55 He þis antecriste sall be nurischt in Bethsaida. 1538 Starkey England i. i. 3 Syns you haue byn of your cuntrey so wel nuryschyd and brought vp. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. viii. 111 An Inglis⁓man..susteinit sumpteouslie, and with gret cost nurist, and brocht vp.

γ 1483 Caxton G. de la Tour F vij, One [child] that a good man..made to be nourysshed secretely. 1585 T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. ii. xviii. 51 b, Yong children..are there nourished, instructed, and exercised. 1611 Bible Ecclus. xvii. 18 Whom being his first borne, hee nourisheth with discipline. a 1618 Raleigh Mahomet (1637) 88 And as his child amongst his children nourished, with whom shee lived.

    † b. Const. in (some condition, pursuit, etc.).

1375 Barbour Bruce xix. 164 His men ar worthyn all sa wicht For lang vsage of gret fechting, That has beyne norist in sic thing. 1456 Sir G. Haye Law Arms (S.T.S.) 68 Faderis..quhilk norist thair barnis ay the mare in vicis. 1604 E. G[rimstone] D'Acosta's Hist. Indies vi. x. 452 Men of great agilitie,..whome they did nourish in this exercise of running from their youth.

    † c. To cherish (a person). Obs.

c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 43 For ȝif a modir norscheþ & loueþ here fleschly child, wiþ hou mychel more diligence schal on loue & norische his gostly broþer. 1535 Coverdale 1 Kings i. 4 She was a very fayre damsell, and noryshed y⊇ kynge, and serued him. c 1560 A. Scott Poems (S.T.S.) xv. 22 My lady..W{supt}in myne armes I nureiss on the nycht.

    † 2. To bring up or rear (animals). Obs.

c 1290 St. Michael 267 in S. Eng. Leg. I. 307 He fierde ase doth a port-doggue, I-norischet in port-toun. 1375 Barbour Bruce vi. 487 Sum men sais ȝeit that the kyng As a strecour hym nwrist had. 1422 tr. Secreta Secret., Priv. Priv. 225 Amonge al bestis that bene nuryshid..by witte of man, the femalis bene moste mekyste. 1496 Fysshynge w. Angle (1883) 37 Ye shall besye yourselfe to nouryssh the game in all that ye maye. 1553 Eden Treat. Newe Ind. (Arb.) 27 In whose honoure he nourisheth a ramme al that yeare. 1604 E. G[rimstone] tr. D'Acosta's Hist. Indies iii. ix. 144 Such as nourish silkewormes, have great care to shut their windowes, whenas the South-west windes do blow.

    † 3. To grow, or allow (one's hair) to grow. Obs.

1382 Wyclif 1 Cor. xi. 15 But if a womman norische long heer, it is glorie to hir. 1603 Knolles Hist. Turks (1621) 235 Which [hair] his mother comming of the race of Sampson..willed him to nourish. 1615 G. Sandys Trav. 3 They nourish onely a locke of haire on the crowne of their heads. 1712–4 Pope Rape Lock ii. 20 This Nymph, to the destruction of mankind, Nourish'd two Locks, which graceful hung behind In equal curls. 1807 Robinson Archæol. Græca iv. vii. 364 The soldiers of the cavalry..were forbidden by a law to nourish their hair and to live delicately.

    † 4. To promote the growth of, to tend or cultivate (plants or trees). Obs.

1523 Fitzherb. Husb. §130 In many places bothe the lordes, freeholders and tenauntes at wyll, sette suche wethyes, and popelers, in marsshe grounde, to nourysshe wodde. 1555 Eden Decades (Arb.) 32 They sowe and norysshe the seades of melons with greate diligence. 1669 J. Worlidge Syst. Agric. (1681) 46 Although Turneps be usually nourisht in Gardens, and be properly Garden-Plants. 1727 A. Hamilton New Acc. E. Ind. II. xxxix. 82 There is little Corn or Pulse grows in this Country but what is nourisht in Gardens. 1792 Burns My Tocher's the Jewel 5 It's a' for the apple he'll nourish the tree.

    II. † 5. a. Of a female: To feed (a young animal or child) with milk from the breast; to suckle; to nurse or rear in this way. Obs.

a 1300 Cursor M. 12337 Be þat water side Lai a leoness..Norisand hir quelpes. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xv. 459 For as þe cow þorw kynde mylke þe calf norissheth til an oxe. c 1450 Merlin 15 Therfore was the moder suffred to norishe it tell it was x monthes of age. 1470–85 Malory Arthur i. iii–v. 39 So sir Ectors wyf nourysshed hym with her owne pappe. 1551 Robinson More's Utopia ii. v. (1895) 163 The chylde that is nouryshed euer after taketh hys nource for his owne naturall mother.

absol. 1382 Wyclif Matt. xxiv. 19 Forsoth wo to wymmen with childe and noryschinge in tho dayes.

    b. To sustain (a person or living organism) with food or proper nutriment.

1340 Ayenb. 154 His bodi..huich he ssel zuo norissi. c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. I. 376 Þis modir haþ conseyved Crist, and norisiþ Crist wiþinne hir. 1422 tr. Secreta Secret., Priv. Priv. 237 Thegh the body may not alway endure, hit may endure longe tyme, yf the kynde of man be Well y-noryschid. 1432–50 tr. Higden (Rolls) III. 43 Faustulus.. toke the ij. childer awey from that beste, noryschenge theyme in his flocke of bestes with herbes, gresse, and suche other þinges. 1538 Starkey England i. ii. 56 The multytude of pepul..plentuously nuryschyd wyth abundance of al thyngys. 1585 T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. i. xviii. 21 Palm trees: of the fruit of which trees, the more part of the inhabitants..are nourished. 1651 Hobbes Leviath. ii. xxiv, Naturall Bloud..circulating, nourisheth by the way, every Member of the Body of Man. 1837 Emerson Amer. Schol. Wks. (Bohn) II. 179 The human body can be nourished on any food. 1871 T. R. Jones Anim. Kingd. (ed. 4) 709 Being hatched internally, the offspring are nourished in receptacles provided for the purpose.

fig. c 1400 Apol. Loll. 92 Þat sche schuld growe to þe feiþ, norischid wiþ miraclis, as we watteren plantis til þey han ben rotid. 1548–9 (Mar.) Bk. Com. Prayer, Collect 7 Trinity, Increase in us true religion, norishe us with all goodnes. 1820 Shelley Ode to Naples 139 An hundred tribes nourished on strange religions And lawless slaveries. 1843 Prescott Mexico vii. ii, Men of unblemished purity of life, nourished with the learning of the cloister.

    c. To supply (a thing) with whatever is necessary to promote its growth or formation, or to maintain it in proper condition.

c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. I. 96 As wete somers nurishen siche tares. c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) xvii. 79 Þai [diamonds] er nurischt with dew of heuen. 1471 Ripley Comp. Alch. vi. xx. in Ashm. (1652) 166 Mineralls be nurryshyd by mynystracyon Of Moysture radycall, whych theyr begynnyng was. 1542 Boorde Dyetary x. (1870) 254 It doth reioyce all the powers of man, and doth nowrysshe them. a 1586 Sidney Ps. i. ii, Like a freshly planted tree,..Whose braunches faile not timelie fruite to nourish. 1604 E. G[rimstone] tr. D'Acosta's Hist. Indies iii. xxi. 188 Yet this mist is wonderfull profitable to bring forth grasse, and to raise vp and nourish the seede. 1667 Milton P.L. v. 183 Aire, and ye Elements.., that..mix And nourish all things. 1765 Dickson Agric. 13 That plants are actually nourished by earth; that they are also nourished by water. 1784 Cowper Task vi. 36 Threat'ning at once and nourishing the plant. 1834 M{supc}Murtrie Cuvier's Anim. Kingd. 7 They also nourish the solids by the interposition of their particles. 1872 Tyndall Forms of Water 95 Were you to stand upon the mountain slopes which nourish the glacier [etc.].

    d. Glove-making. = feed v. 6 e.

1884 Health Exhib. Catal. 38 The skins..are then put into a mixture of water, flour, yelk of eggs, alum, and salt..to be ‘nourished’. 1884 Pall Mall G. 16 May 4/1 After it [the kid-skin] has been unhaired, dressed, nourished, staked.

    6. To provide with food or sustenance; to maintain, support. Now rare. a. Of places.

c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) xii. 50 It bringes furth ne nurischez na qwikk thing. 1495 Trevisa's Barth. De P.R. xiv. liv. 487 Some dyches ben full of water and therin is fysshe nourysshyd and..wormes of dyuers kynde. 1538 Starkey England i. iii. 72 Wher as befor tyme hath byn nuryschyd much gud and Chrystyan pepul, now you schal fynd no thyng maynteynyd but wyld and brute bestys. 1585 T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. i. xii. 14 [The country] nourisheth & pastoureth in the valley a great number of oxen. 1634 Sir T. Herbert Trav. 23 Of these Iles Chromroe..nourishes a people treacherous and least sociable. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. ii. 208 Our Land is from the Rage of Tygers freed, Nor nourishes the Lyon's angry Seed.

transf. 1820 Shelley Hymn Merc. xcvi, Cattle which the mighty Mother mild Nourishes in her bosom.

    b. Of persons.

1432–50 tr. Higden (Rolls) VIII. 7 The seide kynge..was movede to leve that faste and to norische a c. poore men that day. c 1500 Melusine 111 Counseylle the pouere wydowes, nourysshe or doo to be norysshed the pouere orphenyns. 1581 G. Pettie tr. Guazzo's Civ. Conv. (1586) ii. 105 b, With one Art onely, I nourish my selfe, my wife, and children. 1611 Bible Gen. xlv. 11 And thou shalt dwell in the land of Goshen.., And there wil I nourish thee.

fig. c 1645 Howell Lett. ii. xv, Egmont and Horn were nourish'd still with hopes, until Philip II had prepar'd an army. 1847 J. Yeowell Anc. Brit. Ch. (ed. 2) v. 48 He publicly protected and nourished the church in Britain.

    7. absol. To afford nourishment. Obs.

c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 210 Nyȝ þe brayn, or in ony place nyȝ þe herte, or nyȝ ony lyme þat norischeth. 1541 Elyot Cast. Helthe ii. xi. 29 The greattest loues do norishe moste faste, for as muche as the fyre hath not exhausted the moisture of them. 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. iii. (1586) 146 Sheepes Milke is sweeter, and nourisheth more. 1626 Bacon Sylva §45 As Graines and Roots nourish more, than the Leaues. 1667 Milton P.L. v. 325 Save what by frugal storing firmness gains To nourish, and superfluous moist consumes.

    † 8. intr. To receive nourishment; to be fed.

1595 T. Edwards Narcissus L'Envoy v, By his toile we do nourish And by him are inlarg'd. 1626 Bacon Sylva §544 By the Coldnesse of the Ground,..the Plants nourish lesse. Ibid. §602 Plants doe nourish; Inanimate Bodies doe not; They have an Accretion, but no Alimentation.

    III. 9. To promote or foster (a feeling, habit, condition, state of things, etc.) in or among persons.

α c 1290 Beket 1840 in S. Eng. Leg. I. 159 In faire Manere [they] beden him..to norisi loue with is felawes. c 1315 Shoreham iii. 275 Glotenye..norysseþ lecherye, Ase fer, þe brondes hote. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xvi. 33 It norissheth nice siȝtes and some tyme wordes. 1432–50 tr. Higden (Rolls) I. 165 Takenge a multitude of yonge men..and lxxx. virgynes to norysche multiplicacion. c 1477 Caxton Jason 71, I praye yow that ye norisshe pees and concorde togeder. 1529 More Dyaloge i. Wks. 120/1 Men reken that the clergie is glad to fauour theis waies, & to norishe this supersticion. 1607 Shakes. Cor. iii. i. 117, I say they norisht disobedience; fed the ruin of the State.

β 1456 Sir G. Haye Law Arms (S.T.S.) 117 He that procuris, or artis, or nurisis discordis, rumouris, or mortall fedis. 1560 J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 194 b, He did what he coulde, to nurryshe stryfe in religion. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. iv. 255 He fande out the way to nurishe peace with his nychtbouris.

γ 1594 Kyd Cornelia v. 400 Their souldiers (sent to nowrish vp those warrs). 1617 Moryson Itin. i. 87 Here to nourish acquaintance, they spend an houre in discourses. 1665 Dryden Ind. Emp. i. ii, Ill does he represent the Powers above, who nourishes Debate, not preaches Love. 1837 Channing Temperance Wks. (1881) 128 Freedom nourishes self-respect.

    b. To foster, cherish, or nurse (a feeling) in one's own heart or mind.

1560 Bible (Genev.) Ecclus. xxviii. 5 If he that is but flesh nourishe hatred, [and aske pardone of God,] who wil intreate for his sinnes? a 1586 Sidney Ps. xxxvii. i, [No] envy in thy bosome nourish. a 1639 Wotton Reliq. (1651) 58 Whether the frenzy was norish'd in the warm brest of yong men. 1642 Rogers Naaman 14 That wee nourish not a cavilling heart against God in this behalfe. 1709 Prior Despairing Sheph. i, And wand'ring thro' the lonely Rocks, He nourish'd endless Woe. 1781 Cowper Retirement 603 Thus some retire to nourish hopeless woe. 1828 Scott F.M. Perth ii, To think that Catharine Glover nourished the private wish to retire from the world. 1879 Froude Cæsar xv. 242 Clodius..nourishing an implacable hate against Cicero.

    † c. To support, give ground for. Obs.

1719 De Foe Crusoe i. (Globe) 228, I could find nothing to nourish my Suspicion.

    10. To maintain, encourage, strengthen (one's heart, mind, etc.) in or with something.

c 1374 Chaucer Boeth. iii. met. vi. (1868) 79 Than is þer no forlyued wyȝht but ȝif he norisse his corage vnto vices. 1450–1530 Myrr. Our Ladye 1 This holy relygion, which as a mother noryssheth youre soulles in grace. 1555 Eden Decades (Arb.) 49 The mynde of man..is nurysshed with knowleage. 1651 Hobbes Leviath. i. xi. 49 It [frugality] weakeneth their Endeavour, which is to be nourished and kept in vigor by Reward. 1817 Jas. Mill Brit. Ind. II. v. v. 536 A man, who nourished his spirit with the contemplation of ancient heroes. 1859 Whittier Joseph Sturge 81 His zeal seemed nourished By failure and by fall.

    † 11. To provide for or supply (one's wants).

c 1560 A. Scott Poems (S.T.S.) xxvi. 57 Thay wald men nvreist all thair neidis.

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