nourrir French · revision 16815

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=second half of the 10th century, Vie de saint Léger|origins=la nūtriō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /nu.ʁiʁ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''nourrir'''^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French [[m|fro|nodrir]] (before 950), [[m|fro|norir]] (11th century), [[m|fro|nurrir]] (1080); ''nourrir'' from the 12th century.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|norrir]], [[inh|la|nūtriō|t=to suckle; to feed, nourish; to sustain]],^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|7, 250a)^(Wiktionary) a verb mostly of the imperial period, beside the older [[m|la|nūtricō|t=to suckle]], which survives in some Italian dialects.^(DHLF 1992) It is connected with [[m|la|nūtrīx|t=nurse]] (see [[nourrice]]).^(DHLF 1992)^(Littré 1873) The Petit Robert relates it to [[ine-pro|*sneu-|t=to let milk flow]].^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ Cognate with [[ro|nutri]], [[it|nutrire]], [[oc|noirir]], [[ca|nodrir]], [[es|nutrir]] and [[pt|nutrir]].^(Petit Robert 2007)^(REW 1935)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The ''Vie de saint Léger'' (second half of the 10th century) uses it for bringing up a child.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==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).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) 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'').^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ 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).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) ''Se nourrir'' meant “to gain strength” in Jean de Meun and “to feed on” in 1485.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) English owes to this family [[en|nurse]], [[en|nourish]] and [[en|nurture]].^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Before 950 – ''Nodrir''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 2nd half of the 10th century – “To bring up”, ''Vie de saint Léger''.^(TLFi)

+ * Mid-11th century – “To suckle”, ''Vie de saint Alexis''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1100 – “To provide for”, ''Chanson de Roland''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1225 – “To feed”, Gautier de Coinci.^(TLFi)

+ * 1580 – “To harbour a thought”, Montaigne.^(TLFi)

+ * 1690 – ''Nourrir un serpent dans son sein'', Furetière.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|feed]], provide with food: ''nourrir un bébé au sein''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To support, keep, of an activity, ''nourrir son homme'', to provide a living.^(Wiktionary)^(TLFi)

+ # Of food, to [[m|en|nourish]] the body.^(TLFi)

+ # To keep going, feed: ''nourrir le feu''; to enrich a text.^(DHLF 1992)^(BHVF)

+ # To [[m|en|harbour]], cherish a feeling or idea.^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(old)'' To bring up, educate: ''nourri dans'', brought up in.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''Se nourrir'': to eat, ''se nourrir de'', to feed on, live on.^(Wiktionary)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[nourrissant]]

+ * [[nourrissage]]

+ * [[nourrissement]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[nourrice]]

+ * [[nourrisson]]

+ * [[nourriture]]

+ * [[nutriment]]

+ * [[nutrition]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}