English
nutrient
Nutrient comes from Latin nūtriēns ‘feeding (off of), nourishing (from)’, from Proto-Indo-European *snew-tr-ih₂ ‘female nurser’, and ultimately from *(s)neh₂- ‘to swim’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)neh₂-‘to swim’root as named
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*snew-tr-ih₂‘female nurser’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*snoutrjōreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnūtriō‘to suckle, nourish, foster’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEnūtriēns‘feeding (off of), nourishing (from)’present participle of nūtriō
- Englishearliest quotation 2012nutrient
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)neh₂-‘to swim’root as named
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*snew-tr-ih₂‘female nurser’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*snoutrjōreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnūtriō‘to suckle, nourish, foster’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEnūtriēns‘feeding (off of), nourishing (from)’present participle of nūtriō
- Englishearliest quotation 2012nutrient
Earliest quotation: 2012, George Monbiot, Guardian Weekly: “Even second-generation biofuels, made from crop wastes or wood,…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *(s)neh₂- ‘to swim’
naval, navigation, insulin, navigate, nausea, navigator, insular, navigable, nao, nau, insula, astronautics, 23 more
through Proto-Italic *snoutrjō
through Latin nūtriō ‘to suckle, nourish, foster’
Today it means
noun A source of nourishment, such as food, that can be metabolized by an organism to give energy and build tissue.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *(s)neh₂- / nutrient