What does nutriment mean?
Nutriment is a formal or literary noun for something that provides nourishment, especially food or a substance essential to growth and bodily health. In general use, it often suggests a more abstract or elevated idea of sustenance: a landscape may be described as supplying nutriment, and a person may speak of the intellectual or moral nourishment found in a book. The word can refer both to the material that sustains the body and, figuratively, to the elements that sustain the mind or a community. It is less common than food, nourishment, or nutrients and sounds somewhat formal, particularly in descriptions of diet, nature, or education. Its value as a vocabulary word lies in this combination of literal and figurative uses: nutriment names not merely what is eaten, but what feeds a person, a system, or an idea.
nounA substance that provides nourishment, especially food or another material essential to growth and bodily health; nourishment.
- A substance that provides nourishment or sustains life.
- Food or other material that supplies essential elements for health and growth.
- Figuratively, something that provides intellectual, moral, or spiritual sustenance.
"The valley's fertile soil provides abundant nutriment for the surrounding farms."
"A balanced diet should provide the nutriment needed for healthy growth and development."
"Reading widely offers intellectual nutriment that no single textbook can provide."
The regular plural is possible but uncommon.
"The monastery produced several valuable nutriments for the local community."
Nutriment shares a Latin root with nurture, nutrition and nutrient: all point to the fundamental act of keeping something alive and growing.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does nutriment come from?
Nutriment comes from Latin nutrimentum, a noun meaning “nourishment” or “food,” formed from nutrire, “to nourish” or “suckle.” The same Latin root underlies related English words including nutrient, nutrition, nutritious and nutritive. Its present sense is therefore closely connected with the older idea of food that sustains life.
How nutriment is actually used
Formal and literary in tone; less common than food, nourishment, or nutrients. It is often used in descriptions of diet, nature, education, and other contexts involving sustenance.
Easily confused with nutriment
A nutrient is a specific substance the body uses for growth and health, whereas nutriment can refer more broadly to nourishing food or any source of nourishment.
Nourishment is the more usual word for food or the process of sustaining health, while nutriment has a more formal and sometimes figurative tone.