Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “nurse” come from?

I can't write this etymology summary because the provided chain doesn't contain actual etymological information—it only repeats "English nourice" and "English nurse" without any languages preceding English or explanatory details about semantic development. To write an accurate one-sentence origin summary, I would need: - The actual source language(s) before English - Original forms with correct spellings and diacritics - The semantic path showing how the meaning developed Could you provide the complete etymological chain?

nurse (English): A wet nurse; A person who takes care of other...

Definitions

  1. A wet nurse; A person who takes care of other...

Ancestry of “nurse”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle EnglishnoriceA woman employed to take care of one's children...
2Old Frenchnorricea wet nurse
3Latinnūtrīcia—
4Latinnūtrīcius—
5Latinnūtrīx—
6Latinnūtriō—
7Proto-Italicsnoutrjō—
8Proto-Indo-Europeansnew-tr-ih₂female nurser
9Proto-Indo-European(s)neh₂-to swim; to float

Words derived from “nurse”

  • nurse
  • nursing
  • nursemaid
  • nursling
  • nuzzle
  • nurst
  • nursie
  • nurser
  • nonnursing
  • nourice
  • telenursing
  • nurseth
  • nurselike
  • prenursing
  • drynurse
  • nursegirl
  • supernurse
  • nursy
  • nonnurse
  • nursest
  • nursehound
  • nuzzler
  • nursle
  • nurseless
Every word from Proto-Indo-European (s)neh₂- →