NURTURE

breeding, bringing up, fostering, fosterage, nurture, raising, rearing, upbringing

(noun) helping someone grow up to be an accepted member of the community; “they debated whether nature or nurture was more important”

raising, rearing, nurture

(noun) the properties acquired as a consequence of the way you were treated as a child

foster, nurture

(verb) help develop, help grow; “nurture his talents”

nourish, nurture, sustain

(verb) provide with nourishment; “We sustained ourselves on bread and water”; “This kind of food is not nourishing for young children”

rear, raise, bring up, nurture, parent

(verb) look after a child until it is an adult; “raise a family”; “bring up children”

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

Noun

nurture (countable and uncountable, plural nurtures)

The act of nourishing or nursing; tender care

Synonyms: upbringing, raising, education, training

That which nourishes; food; diet.

The environmental influences that contribute to the development of an individual (as opposed to "nature").

Verb

nurture (third-person singular simple present nurtures, present participle nurturing, simple past and past participle nurtured)

To nourish or nurse.

(figuratively, by extension) To encourage, especially the growth or development of something.

Synonyms

• (figuratively, to encourage): See Thesaurus:nurture

Anagrams

• U-turner, untruer

Source: Wiktionary

Nur"ture, n. Etym: [OE. norture, noriture, OF. norriture, norreture, F. nourriture, fr. L. nutritura a nursing, suckling. See Nourish.]

1. The act of nourishing or nursing; thender care; education; training. A man neither by nature nor by nurture wise. Milton.

2. That which nourishes; food; diet. Spenser.

Nur"ture, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Nurtured; p. pr. & vb. n. Nurturing.]

1. To feed; to nourish.

2. To educate; to bring or train up. He was nurtured where he had been born. Sir H. Wotton.

Syn.

– To nourish; nurse; cherish; bring up; educate; tend.

– To Nurture, Nourish, Cherish. Nourish denotes to supply with food, or cause to grow; as, to nourish a plant, to nourish rebellion. To nurture is to train up with a fostering care, like that of a mother; as, to nurture into strength; to nurture in sound principles. To cherish is to hold and treat as dear; as, to cherish hopes or affections.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition