Nurture, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Nurtured; p. pr. & vb. n. Nurturing.]
1. To feed; to nourish.
2. To educate; to bring or train up. He was nurtured where he had been born. Sir H. Wotton.
Syn. -- To nourish; nurse; cherish; bring up; educate; tend. -- To Nurture, Nourish, Cherish. Nourish denotes to supply with food, or cause to grow; as, to nourish a plant, to nourish rebellion. To nurture is to train up with a fostering care, like that of a mother; as, to nurture into strength; to nurture in sound principles. To cherish is to hold and treat as dear; as, to cherish hopes or affections.
1 other Webster entry under this spelling
Nurture, n.
1. The act of nourishing or nursing; thender care; education; training. A man neither by nature nor by nurture wise. Milton.
2. That which nourishes; food; diet. Spenser.
Shades of meaning
Fernald has no entry of its own for nurture; he lists it under cherish, education, teach.
Where he writes about it:
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. — from cherish
Breeding and nurture include teaching and training, especially as directed by and dependent upon home life and personal association; breeding having reference largely to manners with such qualities as are deemed distinctively characteristic of high birth; nurture (literally nourishing) having more direct reference to moral qualities, not overlooking the physical and mental. — from education
To nurture is to furnish the care and sustenance necessary for physical, mental, and moral growth; nurture is a more tender and homelike word than educate. — from teach