Etymologically
Log in

nourrir

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 18 October 2026 at 12:58. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /nu.ʁiʁ/[1]

Forms

nourrir[1] Old French nodrir (before 950), norir (11th century), nurrir (1080); nourrir from the 12th century.[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French norrir, inherited from Latin nūtriō (“to suckle; to feed, nourish; to sustain”),[4][2][5][6][1] a verb mostly of the imperial period, beside the older nūtricō (“to suckle”), which survives in some Italian dialects.[2] It is connected with nūtrīx (“nurse”) (see nourrice).[2][7] The Petit Robert relates it to Proto-Indo-European *sneu- (“to let milk flow”).[8]

Cognate with Romanian nutri, Italian nutrire, Occitan noirir, Catalan nodrir, Spanish nutrir and Portuguese nutrir.[8][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Vie de saint Léger (second half of the 10th century) uses it for bringing up a child.[4][2]

Semantic evolution

That broad sense, “to rear, educate”, survives in nourrir un serpent dans son sein “to help an ingrate” (Furetière, 1690) and in Corneille's nourri dans les alarmes (1636).[4][2] The modern sense, “to supply a living being with food” (Gautier de Coinci, about 1225), follows narrower ones: to suckle a newborn (Vie de saint Alexis, mid-11th century), to feed an animal (Marie de France, about 1180) and to provide for someone's keep (Chanson de Roland, nurrit vous ai long temps).[4][2][7]

In the 16th century things became subjects: food nourishes the body (about 1500), a mill keeps people alive (1524–27), one feeds a fire (1530), and Montaigne (1580) nourishes a thought; a country feeds its people (1582).[4][2] Se nourrir meant “to gain strength” in Jean de Meun and “to feed on” in 1485.[4][2] English owes to this family English nurse, English nourish and English nurture.[8]

Timeline

  • Before 950 – Nodrir.[2]
  • 2nd half of the 10th century – “To bring up”, Vie de saint Léger.[4]
  • Mid-11th century – “To suckle”, Vie de saint Alexis.[4]
  • c. 1100 – “To provide for”, Chanson de Roland.[4]
  • c. 1225 – “To feed”, Gautier de Coinci.[4]
  • 1580 – “To harbour a thought”, Montaigne.[4]
  • 1690 – Nourrir un serpent dans son sein, Furetière.[4]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To feed, provide with food: nourrir un bébé au sein.[8][1]
  2. To support, keep, of an activity, nourrir son homme, to provide a living.[1][4]
  3. Of food, to nourish the body.[4]
  4. To keep going, feed: nourrir le feu; to enrich a text.[2][10]
  5. To harbour, cherish a feeling or idea.[4][1]
  6. (old) To bring up, educate: nourri dans, brought up in.[8]
  7. Se nourrir: to eat, se nourrir de, to feed on, live on.[1][4]

Word family

  • nourrissant
  • nourrissage
  • nourrissement
  • nourrice
  • nourrisson
  • nourriture
  • nutriment
  • nutrition

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  5. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 7, 250a
  7. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  8. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  10. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF