Nutrient

How to spell nutrient

8 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce nutrient

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does nutrient mean?

1. nounA substance that provides nourishment essential for growth, energy, and the maintenance of life.
2. adjectiveServing to nourish or providing nourishment.

Nutrient in a sentence

• noun

  The label lists every nutrient contained in the cereal.

• adjective

  The nutrient broth restored her strength after the illness.

• noun

  Healthy soil delivers each nutrient the young plants need.

• adjective

  Farmers value the nutrient qualities of well-composted soil.

Where does nutrient come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb nutrire, which meant to nourish, to suckle, or to feed, the same root that gives us 'nourish', 'nurture', and 'nurse'. From that verb came the present participle nutrientem, literally 'nourishing', describing something that feeds or sustains. English adopted it in the early 1600s, at first as an adjective meaning 'providing nourishment' and soon afterwards as a noun for any substance that does so. The spelling keeps the Latin 'tri' sequence and the participial '-ent' ending, which is the part adults most often second-guess, since the rival '-ant' ending looks just as plausible. Remembering the link to 'nutrition', which shares the same stem, helps fix the middle of the word in mind.

How the word is built

• nutri- (from Latin nutrire: to nourish, feed)
• -ent (forming a noun or adjective)