Etymologically
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nutrient

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 31 October 2026 at 09:24. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈnjuː.tɹi.ənt/[1]
  • US: /ˈnuː.tɹi.ənt/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin nūtriēns (“nourishing”), the present participle of nūtriō (“to nourish, suckle, feed”),[2][3][4][5][6][7][1] which Etymonline derives from an older form of nūtrīx (“nurse”), from a suffixed form of Proto-Indo-European *(s)nāu- (“to swim, flow, let flow”), hence to suckle.[3][5] The noun use may follow Medieval Latin nutriens (“nutritious substance”), found in a British source in the mid-13th century.[2] The same Latin verb is the source of nourish,[3][7] and Klein compares nurse and nurture.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

As an adjective, conveying or supplying nourishment: 1650, in John Bulwer's Anthropometamorphosis.[2][4][6]

Semantic evolution

In anatomy and zoology the adjective came to describe whatever carries nourishment through the body.[2][8] From 1661 it also meant simply nourishing or nutritious.[2] The noun, a nutritious substance, is first recorded in Noah Webster's American Dictionary of 1828,[2][3][6] and Barnhart dates it 1828–32.[4] It was later used especially of the minerals and compounds, such as nitrates, that plants take in through their roots.[6][9]

Timeline

  • 1650 – adjective, conveying nourishment.[2][4][6]
  • 1661 – adjective, nourishing, nutritious.[2]
  • 1828 – noun, a nutritious substance, in Webster's dictionary.[2][3][6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A substance that provides nourishment for growth and the life of an organism: Spinach is rich in several nutrients.[9][6][2]
  2. Especially, a mineral element or compound that a green plant takes in through its roots, such as a nitrate.[9][6]

Adjective

  1. Providing nourishment; nutritious.[9][6][2]
  2. (anatomy and zoology) Carrying nourishment to the tissues of the body.[8][2]

Word family

  • antinutrient
  • macronutrient
  • micronutrient
  • nonnutrient

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  5. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  8. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  9. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins