Etymologically
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nursery

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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

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)