nutrient

/ˈnutriənt/

/ˈnutriɪnt/

Other forms: nutrients

A nutrient is anything that nourishes a living being. We humans get our nutrients from what we eat, plants get theirs from the soil. While the best nutrients are natural, we can also get them from vitamins in a bottle.

The words nutrient and nourish both come from the Latin word nūtrīre, "to feed, nurse, support, preserve." Although usually used as a noun, the word nutrient started out in 1650 as an adjective meaning "providing nourishment." It's important to your health to get the proper nutrients, so the food pyramid was developed by nutritionists to show you the balance of foods you need each day.

Definitions of nutrient

1. noun

   any substance that can be metabolized by an animal to give energy and build tissue
   synonyms: food

   types:

   vitellus, yolk

   nutritive material of an ovum stored for the nutrition of an embryo (especially the yellow mass of a bird or reptile egg)

   comfort food

   food that is simply prepared and gives a sense of wellbeing; typically food with a high sugar or carbohydrate content that is associated with childhood or with home cooking

   comestible, eatable, edible, pabulum, victual, victuals

   any substance that can be used as food

   fare

   the food and drink that are regularly served or consumed

   food product, foodstuff

   a substance that can be used or prepared for use as food

   aliment, alimentation, nourishment, nutriment, nutrition, sustenance, victuals

   a source of materials to nourish the body

   commissariat, provender, provisions, viands, victuals

   a stock or supply of foods

   feed, provender

   food for domestic livestock

   manna, manna from heaven, miraculous food

   (Old Testament) food that God gave the Israelites during the Exodus

   beverage, drink, drinkable, potable

   any liquid suitable for drinking

   water

   a liquid necessary for the life of most animals and plants

   soul food

   food traditionally eaten by African-Americans in the South

   micronutrient

   a substance needed only in small amounts for normal body function (e.g., vitamins or minerals)

   chyme

   a semiliquid mass of partially digested food that passes from the stomach through the pyloric sphincter into the duodenum

   culture medium, medium

   (bacteriology) a nutrient substance (solid or liquid) that is used to cultivate micro-organisms

   milk

   produced by mammary glands of female mammals for feeding their young

   tuck

   eatables (especially sweets)

   course

   part of a meal served at one time

   dainty, delicacy, goody, kickshaw, treat

   something considered choice to eat

   dish

   a particular item of prepared food

   fast food

   inexpensive food (hamburgers or chicken or milkshakes) prepared and served quickly

   finger food

   food to be eaten with the fingers

   ingesta

   solid and liquid nourishment taken into the body through the mouth

   kosher

   food that fulfills the requirements of Jewish dietary law

   diet

   the usual food and drink consumed by an organism (person or animal)

   diet

   a prescribed selection of foods

   dietary

   a regulated daily food allowance

   menu

   the dishes making up a meal

   chow, chuck, eats, grub

   informal terms for a meal

   board, table

   food or meals in general

   ration

   the food allowance for one day (especially for service personnel)

   starches

   foodstuff rich in natural starch (especially potatoes, rice, bread)

   breadstuff

   flour or meal or grain used in baking bread

   coloring, colouring, food color, food coloring, food colour, food colouring

   a digestible substance used to give color to food

   concentrate

   a concentrated form of a foodstuff; the bulk is reduced by removing water

   meal

   coarsely ground foodstuff; especially seeds of various cereal grasses or pulse

   fiber, fibre, roughage

   coarse, indigestible plant food low in nutrients; its bulk stimulates intestinal peristalsis

   flour

   fine powdery foodstuff obtained by grinding and sifting the meal of a cereal grain

   blood meal

   the dried and powdered blood of animals

   corn gluten feed

   a feed consisting primarily of corn gluten

   food cache

   food in a secure or hidden storage place

   larder

   a supply of food especially for a household

   frozen food, frozen foods

   food preserved by freezing

   canned food, canned foods, canned goods, tinned goods

   food preserved by canning

   dehydrated food, dehydrated foods

   food preserved by dehydration

   meal, repast

   the food served and eaten at one time

   Saint-John's-bread, carob, carob powder

   powder from the ground seeds and pods of the carob tree; used as a chocolate substitute

   tapioca

   granular preparation of cassava starch used to thicken especially puddings

   mess

   soft semiliquid food

   mince

   food chopped into small bits

   puree

   food prepared by cooking and straining or processed in a blender

   cocoa

   powder of ground roasted cacao beans with most of the fat removed

   cattle cake

   a concentrated feed for cattle; processed in the form of blocks or cakes

   creep feed

   feed given to young animals isolated in a creep

   fodder

   coarse food (especially for livestock) composed of entire plants or the leaves and stalks of a cereal crop

   feed grain

   grain grown for cattle feed

   ensilage, silage

   fodder harvested while green and kept succulent by partial fermentation as in a silo

   oil cake

   mass of e.g. linseed or cottonseed or soybean from which the oil has been pressed; used as food for livestock

   cereal, food grain, grain

   foodstuff prepared from the starchy grains of cereal grasses

   stodge

   heavy and filling (and usually starchy) food

   wheat germ

   embryo of the wheat kernel; removed before milling and eaten as a source of vitamins

   pigswill, pigwash, slop, slops, swill

   wet feed (especially for pigs) consisting of mostly kitchen waste mixed with water or skimmed or sour milk

   mash

   mixture of ground animal feeds

   cud, rechewed food

   food of a ruminant regurgitated to be chewed again

   bird feed, bird food, birdseed

   food given to birds; usually mixed seeds

   pet food, pet-food, petfood

   food prepared for animal pets

   mast

   nuts of forest trees used as feed for swine

   fixings, ingredient

   food that is a component of a mixture in cooking

   egg, eggs

   oval reproductive body of a fowl (especially a hen) used as food

   dairy product

   milk and butter and cheese

   milk

   a white nutritious liquid secreted by mammals and used as food by human beings

   milk

   any of several nutritive milklike liquids

   curd

   a coagulated liquid resembling milk curd

   wish-wash

   any thin watery drink

   concoction, intermixture, mixture

   any foodstuff made by combining different ingredients

   potion

   a medicinal or magical or poisonous beverage

   alcohol, alcoholic beverage, alcoholic drink, inebriant, intoxicant

   a liquor or brew containing alcohol as the active agent

   hydromel

   honey diluted in water; becomes mead when fermented

   oenomel

   wine mixed with honey

   near beer

   drink that resembles beer but with less than 1/2 percent alcohol

   ginger beer

   carbonated slightly alcoholic drink flavored with fermented ginger

   mixer

   club soda or fruit juice used to mix with alcohol

   cooler

   an iced drink especially white wine and fruit juice

   refresher

   a drink that refreshes

   smoothie

   a thick smooth drink consisting of fresh fruit pureed with ice cream or yoghurt or milk

   fizz

   an effervescent beverage (usually alcoholic)

   cider, cyder

   a beverage made from juice pressed from apples

   chocolate, cocoa, drinking chocolate, hot chocolate

   a beverage made from cocoa powder and milk and sugar; usually drunk hot

   juice

   the liquid part that can be extracted from plant or animal tissue by squeezing or cooking

   fruit crush, fruit juice

   drink produced by squeezing or crushing fruit

   ade, fruit drink

   a sweetened beverage of diluted fruit juice

   mate

   South American tea-like drink made from leaves of a South American holly called mate

   soft drink

   nonalcoholic beverage (usually carbonated)

   coffee, java

   a beverage consisting of an infusion of ground coffee beans

   chai, tea

   the name of tea in various languages

   tea-like drink

   a beverage that resembles tea but is not made from tea leaves

   branch water

   pure natural water from a stream or brook; often distinguished from soda water

   spring water

   water from a spring

   drinking water

   water suitable for drinking

   perishable, spoilable

   food that will decay rapidly if not refrigerated

   fish meal

   ground dried fish used as fertilizer and as feed for domestic livestock

   agar, nutrient agar

   any culture medium that uses agar as the gelling agent

   vitamin

   any of a group of organic substances essential in small quantities to normal metabolism

   type of:

   substance

   a particular kind or species of matter with uniform properties
2. noun

   any substance (such as a chemical element or inorganic compound) that can be taken in by a green plant and used in organic synthesis
   types:

   water

   a liquid necessary for the life of most animals and plants

   branch water

   pure natural water from a stream or brook; often distinguished from soda water

   spring water

   water from a spring

   drinking water

   water suitable for drinking

   type of:

   substance

   a particular kind or species of matter with uniform properties
3. adjective

   of or providing nourishment
   synonyms: alimental, alimentary, nourishing, nutritious, nutritive

   wholesome

   conducive to or characteristic of physical or moral well-being