nour·ish / ˈnərish; ˈnə-rish/ • v. [tr.] 1. provide with the food or other substances necessary for growth, health, and good condition: I was doing everything I could to nourish and protect the baby | fig. spiritual resources that nourished her in her darkest hours. ∎  enhance the fertility of (soil): a clay base nourished with plant detritus.2. keep (a feeling or belief) in one's mind, typically for a long time: he has long nourished an ambition to bring the show to Broadway.DERIVATIVES: nour·ish·er n.

nourish †bring up, nurture; foster (fig.); †suckle, nurse XIII; sustain with proper nutriment XIV. — OF. noriss-, lengthened stem (see -ISH2) of norir (mod. nourrir) :- L. nūtrīre feed, foster, cherish; see NUTRIMENT.
Hence nourishment XV.