different between nurse vs nursery

English

Alternative forms

• nourice (archaic)
• norice (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English norice, from Old French norrice, from Latin n?tr?cius (“that nourishes”), from n?tr?x (“wet nurse”), from n?tri? (“to suckle”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /n??s/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /n?s/
• Rhymes: -??(?)s

Noun

nurse (plural nurses)

1. (archaic) A wet nurse.
2. A person (usually a woman) who takes care of other people’s young.

3. A person trained to provide care for the sick.
   • 1990, Andrew Davies, Michael Dobbs, House of Cards, Season 1, Episode 4

     Francis Urquhart: Right. Mackenzie. Health. No chance of getting him into a demo at a hospital, I suppose?
     Tim Stamper: Doesn't go to hospitals any more. Kept getting beaten up by the nurses... I think he has trouble getting insured now.

4. (figuratively) One who, or that which, brings up, rears, causes to grow, trains, or fosters.
   • 1790, Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France

     the nurse of manly sentiment and heroic enterprise

5. (horticulture) A shrub or tree that protects a young plant.
6. (nautical) A lieutenant or first officer who takes command when the captain is unfit for his place.
7. A larva of certain trematodes, which produces cercariae by asexual reproduction.
8. A nurse shark.

Usage notes

• Some speakers consider nurses (medical workers) to be female by default, and thus use "male nurse" to refer to a man doing the same job.

Derived terms

• nurse practitioner
• snotty's nurse
• wet nurse, wet-nurse

Descendants

Translations

Verb

nurse (third-person singular simple present nurses, present participle nursing, simple past and past participle nursed)

1. (transitive) To breastfeed: to feed (a baby) at the breast; to suckle.

   She believes that nursing her baby will make him strong and healthy.

2. (intransitive) To breastfeed: to be fed at the breast.
3. (transitive) To care for (someone), especially in sickness; to tend to.

   She nursed him back to health.

4. to treat kindly and with extra care

   She nursed the rosebush and that season it bloomed.

5. to manage with care and economy

   Synonym: husband

6. to drink slowly, to make it last

   Rob was nursing a small beer.

7. to foster, to nourish
8. to hold closely to one's chest

   Would you like to nurse the puppy?

9. (billiards) To strike (billiard balls) gently, so as to keep them in good position during a series of shots.
   • 1866, United States. Congress. Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War, Supplemental report of the Joint Committee

     It is to our interest to let Lee and Johnston come together, just as a billiard-player would nurse the balls when he has them in a nice place

Usage notes

In sense “to drink slowly”, generally negative and particularly used for someone at a bar, suggesting they either cannot afford to buy another drink or are too miserly to do so. By contrast, sip is more neutral.

Synonyms

• (drink slowly): sip, see also Thesaurus:drink

Translations

See also

• matron
• sister

Further reading

• nurse in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• nurse in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• nurse at OneLook Dictionary Search
• Nurse in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)

Anagrams

• Nuers, Suren, Unser, runes, urnes

Middle English

Noun

nurse

1. Alternative form of norice

English

Etymology

From Middle English noricerie, norserye (“children's nursery; state of being fostered or nursed; education, upbringing”) [and other forms], from Old French norricerie, nourricerie, from norrice, nourrice (modern French nourrice (“childminder, nanny; wet nurse”)) + -erie (suffix forming feminine nouns). Norrice and nourrice are derived from Late Latin n?tr?cia (“wet nurse”), from Latin n?tr?cius (“that nurses or suckles; nourishing”), from n?tri? (“to breastfeed, nurse, suckle”), possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)neh?- (“to flow”). The English word may be analysed as nourice, nurse +? -ery (suffix forming nouns meaning ‘place of’).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?n??s??i/, /?n??s?i/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?n?s??i/, /?n?s?i/
• Hyphenation: nurs?e?ry

Noun

nursery (countable and uncountable, plural nurseries)

1. (countable) A place where nursing (“breastfeeding”) or the raising of children is carried on.
   1. (by extension) Especially in European countries: a room or area in a household set apart for the care of children.
   2. A place where the pre-school children of working parents are supervised during the day; a crèche, a daycare centre.
   3. A nursery school (“a school where pre-school children learn and play at the same time”).
   4. (Philippines) The first year of pre-school.
2. (countable, also figuratively) A place where anything is fostered and growth promoted.
   1. (agriculture, zoology) A place where animals breed, or where young animals are naturally or artificially reared (for example, on a farm).
   2. (horticulture) A place where young shrubs, trees, vines, etc., are cultivated for transplanting, or (more generally) made available for public sale, a garden centre; also (obsolete) a plantation of young trees.
   3. (sports) A club or team for developing the skills of young players.
3. (countable) Something which educates and nurtures.
4. (countable, billiards) Short for nursery cannon (“a carom shot involving balls that are very close together”).
5. (countable, obsolete, rare) Someone or something that is nursed; a nursling.
6. (uncountable, obsolete) The act of nursing or rearing.

Derived terms

Related terms

• nurse

Translations

Notes

References

Further reading

• nursery (room) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• nursery habitat on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• nursery school on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• plant nursery on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• nursery (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Italian

Etymology

Borrowed from English nursery.

Noun

nursery f (invariable)

1. nursery (place for the care of children)