What does nurse mean?
Nurse is a widely used word with both a noun and a verb sense. As a noun, it most commonly denotes a trained healthcare professional who provides care to people who are ill, injured, pregnant, or otherwise in need of medical assistance. The word can also refer historically to a woman who cared for children or infants, especially by breastfeeding them. As a verb, to nurse someone or something is to provide sustained, attentive care, while to nurse a grudge, fear, hope, or ambition means to keep that feeling alive over time. The word carries broadly positive associations with care, patience, and responsibility, though phrases involving nursing a grudge or fear can introduce a more negative, figurative nuance. Today, nurse is used without gender restriction and appears in compounds and job titles such as registered nurse, nurse practitioner, and night nurse. Its history also reflects the older sense of nourishing or suckling a child.
A trained person who provides healthcare and assistance to people who are sick, injured, or in need of medical care.
"The nurse administered the medication and monitored the patient's recovery."
The term is now used for people of any gender. Its older sense of a woman caring for or breastfeeding children remains mainly historical.
To care for someone or something attentively over time, or to maintain a feeling or condition such as a grudge, fear, hope, or ambition.
"She nursed her mother through a difficult illness and later nursed the idea of opening a small clinic."
The metaphorical use is especially common with grudge, fear, hope, and ambition.
The standard plural of the noun is “nurses.”
"Several nurses from the local clinic volunteered at the health fair."
Before nurses worked in hospitals, the word referred to a woman who nourished children, usually by breastfeeding them.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of nurse
The word entered Middle English from Old French nurse, ultimately from Latin nutrix, a feminine noun derived from nutrire, meaning to nourish or feed. Its earliest sense referred to a woman who suckled or cared for children. The modern healthcare sense developed later as nursing became an organized profession. The same Latin root underlies words such as nurture, nutrition, nutritious, and nutrient.
Related word forms
How nurse is actually used
In modern usage, “nurse” is fully gender-neutral, although its historical associations with women remain. The verb can be used metaphorically in expressions such as “nurse a grudge,” “nurse a fear,” and “nurse a hope.”
Easily confused with nurse
A nurse is generally a person, especially a healthcare professional, whereas nurture is primarily a verb meaning to care for and encourage the development or well-being of someone or something.