nourish
/ˈnʌɹ.ɪʃ/verb
nourish is spelled N-O-U-R-I-S-H: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 32,798th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, nourish means “To feed and cause to grow; to supply with food or other matter which increases weight and promotes health” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in nourish?
| Letters | 7: N-O-U-R-I-S-H |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words; the 32,798th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is nourish?
Nourish appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 32,798th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce nourish?
- /ˈnʌɹ.ɪʃ/
- /ˈnʊɹ.ɪʃ/
Nourish has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-ne-nourish.ogg, En-us-nourish.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of nourish
- nourishes present, singular, he/she/it
- nourishing participle, present
- nourished participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does nourish mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To feed and cause to grow; to supply with food or other matter which increases weight and promotes health.
- 2
To support; to maintain; to be responsible for.
- 3
To encourage; to foster; to stimulate
to nourish civility
- 4
To cherish; to comfort.
- 5
To educate or bring up; to nurture; to promote emotional, spiritual or other non-physical growth.
- 6
To promote growth; to furnish nutriment.
This type of nourishes very well.
- 7
obsoleteTo gain nourishment.
noun
- 1
obsoleteA nurse.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Nourish in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | nourrir |
| German | ernähren, nähren, aufziehen , erziehen, großziehen |
| Portuguese | nutrir , nutrir-se |
| Spanish | nutrir |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does nourish come from?
From Middle English norischen, from Old French nouriss-, stem of one of the conjugated forms of norrir, from Latin nutriō (“to suckle, feed, foster, nourish, cherish, preserve, support”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).