Etymologically
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nutrition

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 14:34. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /njuːˈtɹɪʃ.ən/, /nuˈtɹɪʃ.ən/[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English nutricioun, borrowed from Middle French nutrition and directly Late Latin nūtrītiō (“a nourishing”),[2][3][4] from the past participle stem of nūtrīre (“to nourish, suckle, feed”) (see nourish),[2][3][5] which Etymonline traces to PIE *(s)neh₂-, to swim, flow, hence to suckle.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The act of nourishing: probably before 1425, in a translation of Chauliac's Grande Chirurgie.[2][4]

Semantic evolution

Figurative uses are from 1551.[6] The process by which organisms absorb food and build it into tissue is from the 1550s in Etymonline and 1615 in the OED.[3][6] That which nourishes, food, is from about 1600 (1603).[3][6] Nutritious is from 1665 and nutritionist from 1926.[2] The science of food and nourishment is a modern sense.[7][8]

Timeline

  • before 1425 – nutricioun.[2]
  • 1551 – figurative use.[6]
  • 1603 – food, nourishment.[6]
  • 1615 – the process of nourishing.[6]
  • 1926 – nutritionist.[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The process by which living things take in food and use it for growth and repair of tissue.
  2. The study of food and nourishment, especially in humans.
  3. Food; a source of nourishment.

Word family

  • nutritional
  • nutritionally
  • hypernutrition
  • innutrition
  • malnutrition
  • overnutrition
  • supernutrition
  • undernutrition
  • nutrient
  • nutritious
  • nourish
  • nurse
  • nurture

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  8. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins