nurse
/nɜːs/noun, verb
nurse is spelled N-U-R-S-E: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 25 times per million words in written English, the 3,612th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, nurse means “Anyone performing this role, regardless of training or profession” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of nurse is nurses.
How many letters and syllables are in nurse?
| Letters | 5: N-U-R-S-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 25 times per million words; the 3,612th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
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); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is nurse?
Nurse appears 25 times per million words in written English, the 3,612th 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 nurse?
- UK /nɜːs/
- British /nɵːs/
- British /nəːs/
Nurse has one syllable (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-nurse.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-nurse.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with nurse?
2 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as nurse from its last stressed vowel (/ɜs/, British pronunciation):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of nurse
- nurses plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- nursing participle, present
- nursed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does nurse mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
informalAnyone performing this role, regardless of training or profession.
My aunt was my nurse while I recuperated at home from surgery.
- 2
A medical worker performing this role, typically someone trained to provide such care but having credentials and rank below a doctor or physician assistant.
The nurse made her rounds through the hospital ward.
- 3
A medical worker, such as a registered nurse, having training, credentials, and rank above a nurse assistant.
- 4
archaicA person (usually a woman) who takes care of other people’s children.
They hired a nurse to care for their young boy.
- 5
One who, or that which, brings up, rears, causes to grow, trains, or fosters.
Eton College has been called "the chief nurse of England's statesmen".
- 6
A shrub or tree that protects a young plant.
- 7
A lieutenant or first officer who takes command when the captain is unfit for his place.
- 8
A larva of certain trematodes, which produces cercariae by asexual reproduction.
- 9
A nurse shark or dogfish.
verb
- 1
To breastfeed: to feed (a baby) at the breast; to suckle.
She believes that nursing her baby will make him strong and healthy.
- 2
To breastfeed: to be fed at the breast.
- 3
To care for (someone), especially in sickness; to tend to.
She nursed him back to health.
- 4
To tend gently and with extra care.
She nursed the rosebush and that season it bloomed.
- 5
To manage or oversee (something) with care and economy.
- 6
informalTo drink (a beverage) slowly, so as to make it last.
Rob was nursing a small beer.
- 7
To cultivate or persistently entertain (an attitude, usually negative) in one's mind; to brood or obsess over.
to nurse a grudge
- 8
To hold closely to one's chest.
Would you like to nurse the puppy?
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Nurse in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | infirmière, infirmier , nourrice , allaiter, donner le sein , soigner |
| German | Krankenschwester, Krankenpfleger , Kinderfrau, Kindermädchen , stillen , pflegen |
| Portuguese | enfermeira, enfermeiro , babá , amamentar , tratar , tratar bem |
| Spanish | enfermera, enfermero , niñera , amamantar, dar el pecho, atetar |
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 nurse come from?
From Middle English norice, from Old French norrice, from Late Latin nūtrīcia, noun based on Latin nūtrīcius (“that which nourishes”), from nūtrīx (“wet nurse”), from nūtriō (“to suckle”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).