# nursery

Pronunciation: say "NUR-suh-ree" US /ˈnɝsəɹi/, UK /ˈnɜːsəɹi/

## Noun

1. An institution that cares for small children during the daytime, before they begin primary school, while their parents work; a daycare center. *(British, UK)*
   - Simple: A place that looks after young children during the day, before they are old enough to start school.
   - _Both parents work full-time, so their daughter attends nursery from eight until five._
   - _Staff at the nursery plan songs, crafts, and outdoor play for the toddlers each day._
2. A room or area in a home set apart for the care of young children, found especially in European countries.
   - Simple: A room in a house where a baby or small child sleeps and is cared for.
   - _We converted the spare bedroom into a nursery for our first child._
   - _In the grand Victorian houses, children spent most of the day upstairs in the nursery with a governess._
3. A place where young shrubs, trees, vines, and other plants are cultivated for transplanting or offered for public sale; a garden center.
   - Simple: A place where young plants and trees are grown and sold.
   - _The landscaper ordered fifty saplings from a wholesale nursery._
   - _Every spring the nursery fills its greenhouses with tomato seedlings and bedding plants._
4. A place where animals breed, or where young animals are reared, whether naturally or under human care, as on a farm.
   - Simple: A place where animals have their babies or where young animals are raised.
   - _Mangrove swamps serve as a nursery for countless species of juvenile fish._
   - _The breeder keeps the puppies in a heated nursery for their first eight weeks._
5. A club or team that develops the skills of young players before they move on to a higher level of competition.
   - Simple: A team or club where young players learn the game and grow their skills.
   - _The academy has long been a nursery for the national team, producing a steady stream of midfielders._
   - _Smaller clubs often act as a nursery, training teenagers whom wealthier teams later sign._
6. A place where something is fostered and its growth is encouraged or promoted.
   - Simple: A place where something new is helped to start and grow.
   - _The coffeehouses of the eighteenth century were a nursery of political debate._
   - _The university's robotics lab served as a nursery for several successful startups._
7. Something, such as an institution or environment, that educates and nurtures.
   - Simple: Something that teaches people and helps them grow.
   - _The debate club proved a nursery of clear thinking and public speaking._
   - _For many writers, the local newspaper was a nursery that shaped their craft._
8. The first year of preschool, attended before a child begins formal schooling. *(Philippines)*
   - Simple: The first year of preschool, for very young children.
   - _She learned to write her name during her year in nursery._
   - _Children in nursery are usually three or four years old._
9. Ellipsis of nursery cannon. — Ellipsis of nursery cannon (“a carom shot involving balls that are very close together”).
   - Simple: Short for nursery cannon. Use it for a billiards shot played when the balls are very close together.
   - _With the balls almost touching, he stroked in another delicate nursery._
   - _Her gentle nursery nudged both object balls without separating them._

## Noun

10. A person or creature that is being nursed or brought up in someone's care. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A baby or young creature that someone nurses and cares for.
11. The act or work of nursing, or of rearing those in one's care. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: The work of feeding and raising a child or a young animal.

## Origin

From Middle English noricerie (“children's nursery; upbringing, education”), from Old French norricerie, built on norrice, nourrice (“wet nurse, nanny”) plus the suffix -erie. Norrice traces back to Late Latin nūtrīcia (“wet nurse”) and Latin nūtriō (“to breastfeed, nurse, suckle”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *(s)neh₂- (“to flow”).

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/nursery (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).