nursery English · revision 15224

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=probably c. 1300|origins=la nūtriō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈnɜːsəɹi/, /ˈnɜːsɹi/ ''(UK)''; /ˈnɝsəɹi/, /ˈnɝsɹi/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|noricerie]], [[bor|fro|nourricerie]],^(Barnhart 1988) formed from [[m|fro|norrice|t=nurse]] (see [[nurse]]) and [[m|fro|-erie]] (see [[-ery]]),^(Barnhart 1988)^(NODE 1998)^(MWU 2024) ultimately from [[la|nūtriō|t=to nourish, suckle]] (see [[nourish]]).^(Etymonline) Etymonline instead derives it from Old French [[m|fro|norture|t=nourishment, education]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A room set apart for young children and their nurse: probably about 1300 in Barnhart and Etymonline;^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) the OED's first quotation for this sense is from 1499.^(OED 1989) The spelling nursery does not appear before the 1580s.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Middle English it also meant fostering, upbringing or nursing, from before 1400,^(OED 1989) and Trench quotes Fuller using it for the child nursed.^(Trench 1859)^(OED 1989) A place where anything is fostered or developed is from about 1500 (1509 in the OED),^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and a ground where young plants and trees are raised from 1565.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) A school for very young children is from the 1580s,^(Etymonline) and in the 17th century a London theatre for training young actors was called the Nursery.^(OED 1989) Nursery rhyme is by 1807.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1300 – noricerie, a children's room.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+ * before 1400 – nursing, upbringing.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1509 – a place where something is fostered.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1565 – a plant nursery.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1807 – nursery rhyme.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A room in a house set apart for children.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A place providing care for babies and young children; a [[crèche]] or [[nursery school]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A place where young plants and trees are grown for sale or transplanting.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A place or conditions in which something is fostered or developed.^(AHD)

+

+ ==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.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}