nourish

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
nourish/ˈnʌrɪʃ/

▶verb

• 1 provide with the food or other substances necessary for growth and health.

  ■ enhance the fertility of (soil).

• 2 keep (a feeling or belief) in one's mind for a long time.

– derivatives
nourisher noun,
nourishing adjective,
nourishingly adverb.

– origin ME: from OFr. noriss-, lengthened stem of norir, from L. nutrire ‘feed, cherish’.