nursery

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈnɜːsəɹi/, /ˈnɜːsɹi/ (UK); /ˈnɝsəɹi/, /ˈnɝsɹi/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English noricerie, borrowed from Old French nourricerie,^[2] formed from norrice (“nurse”) (see nurse) and -erie (see -ery),^[2][3][4] ultimately from Latin nūtriō (“to nourish, suckle”) (see nourish).^[5] Etymonline instead derives it from Old French norture (“nourishment, education”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

A room set apart for young children and their nurse: probably about 1300 in Barnhart and Etymonline;^[2][5] the OED's first quotation for this sense is from 1499.^[6] The spelling nursery does not appear before the 1580s.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In Middle English it also meant fostering, upbringing or nursing, from before 1400,^[6] and Trench quotes Fuller using it for the child nursed.^[7][6] A place where anything is fostered or developed is from about 1500 (1509 in the OED),^[5][6] and a ground where young plants and trees are raised from 1565.^[2][5] A school for very young children is from the 1580s,^[5] and in the 17th century a London theatre for training young actors was called the Nursery.^[6] Nursery rhyme is by 1807.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 1300 – noricerie, a children's room.^[2][5]
• before 1400 – nursing, upbringing.^[6]
• 1509 – a place where something is fostered.^[6]
• 1565 – a plant nursery.^[2]
• 1807 – nursery rhyme.^[5]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A room in a house set apart for children.
2. A place providing care for babies and young children; a crèche or nursery school.
3. A place where young plants and trees are grown for sale or transplanting.
4. A place or conditions in which something is fostered or developed.

Word family

• nurseryman
• nurserywoman
• prenursery
• day nursery
• nursery rhyme
• nursery school

Related words

• nurse
• nourish
• nurture
• nutrition
• nursling

Usage notes

In Yorkshire and Lancashire dialect a nursery was a plantation of trees, especially young ones.^[8]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Trench, Richard Chenevix (1859), A Select Glossary of English Words Used Formerly in Senses Different from Their Present, London: John W. Parker
8. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)