cherish

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English cherishen, also cherisen and chersen,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Old French cheriss-, the extended stem of cherir (“to hold dear”) (modern French chérir),^[5][6][7][3] from chier (“dear”),^[6][3] from Latin cārus (“dear, costly, beloved”),^[6][8][9] from Proto-Indo-European *kā- (“to like, desire”).^[6][8] The Latin adjective is also the source of Italian caro, Spanish caro and Portuguese caro,^[6][4] and of charity and caress.^[3][4] The ending is the verbal suffix -ish of French verbs,^[5][7][9] as in nourish and flourish;^[10] the shortened Middle English form cherse matches nurse beside nourish.^[5] In Anglo-Norman the verb is recorded from 1155, meaning to hold dear and to look after, and also to raise the price of something.^[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

To hold dear, to treat with tenderness and affection: about 1320, in a translation of Bonaventure's Meditations.^[5][6] Barnhart dates chersen to probably before 1325.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The word soon spread from holding someone dear to caring for them: to foster children and young creatures (1340–70), to entertain a guest kindly (about 1330), to cheer or encourage (about 1400) and to keep something carefully.^[5] By about 1385, in Chaucer, it was also used of the mind, to harbour a hope or feeling fondly, which Etymonline dates to the late 14th century.^[5][6] In 1399, in Langland, it meant to keep warm or comfort, a sense the OED illustrates with Johnson's definition "to give warmth, ease, or comfort".^[5] From the 16th century it could mean to caress or fondle, a use now obsolete.^[5][9] Johnson (1755) defined it as to support with encouragement and protection, to shelter, to nurse up.^[12] The Book of Common Prayer's marriage vow "to love and to cherish, till death us do part" keeps the old sense of loving care.^[13]

Timeline

• 1155 – Anglo-Norman cherir, to cherish, look after.^[11]
• c. 1320 – to hold dear, treat with affection.^[5]
• c. 1330 – to entertain a guest kindly (obsolete by 1737).^[5]
• 1340–70 – to foster, nurse children.^[5]
• c. 1385 – to harbour a hope or feeling fondly (Chaucer).^[5]
• 1399 – to keep warm (Langland).^[5]
• 1519 – to tend or cultivate plants or hair.^[5]
• 1568 – to caress, fondle (obsolete by 1814).^[5]

Meanings

Verb

1. To hold dear; to feel or show affection for: He cherished his grandchildren.^[13][14][5]
2. To keep or protect with care and affection: She still cherishes her grandmother's letters.^[13][5]
3. To care for, nurture or cultivate lovingly.^[13][5][9]
4. To cling fondly to a hope, belief or memory; to harbour: They cherished the hope of returning home.^[14][13][5]
5. (obsolete, 1568–1814) To caress or fondle.^[5][9]
6. (archaic) To keep warm; to give warmth or comfort to.^[5][12]

Word family

• cherishable
• cherisher
• cherishingly
• overcherish
• uncherished

Related words

• caress
• charity

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
9. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
11. ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
12. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
13. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
14. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins