Cherish, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Cherished; p. pr. & vb. n. Cherising.]
Etymology: [F. chérir, fr. cher dear, fr. L. carus. See Caress, Finish.]
1. To treat with tenderness and affection; to nurture with care; to protect and aid. We were gentle among you, even as a nurse cherisheth her children. 1 Thess. ii. 7.
2. To hold dear; to embrace with interest; to indulge; to encourage; to foster; to promote; as, to cherish religious principle. To cherish virtue and humanity. Burke.
Syn. -- To nourish; foster; nurse; nurture; entertain; encourage; comfort; protect; support; See Nurture.
Shades of meaning
To cherish is both to hold dear and to treat as dear. Mere unexpressed esteem would not be cherishing. In the marriage vow, "to love, honor, and cherish," the word cherish implies all that each can do by love and tenderness for the welfare and happiness of the other, as by support, protection, care in sickness, comfort in sorrow, sympathy, and help of every kind. To nurse is to tend the helpless or feeble, as infants, or the sick or wounded. To nourish is strictly to sustain and build up by food; to nurture includes careful mental and spiritual training, with something of love and tenderness; to foster is simply to maintain and care for, to bring up; a foster-child will be nourished, but may not be as tenderly nurtured or as lovingly cherished as if one's own. In the figurative sense, the opinion one cherishes he holds, not with mere cold conviction, but with loving devotion.