nursery

nursery — noun

1. a facility where babies and toddlers are looked after by trained staff during da

1.nounB1
Definition

a facility where babies and toddlers are looked after by trained staff during daytime hours so that their mothers and fathers can go to their jobs.

Example

Zuri drops her two-year-old son at the nursery every morning before work.

drop [child] at nursery — common collocation

Liang picks up his daughter from the nursery every day after work.

pick [child] up from nursery — common collocation

Common collocations
  • go to nursery
  • start nursery
  • leave at nursery
  • nursery staff
  • nursery fees
  • nursery place
Synonyms
  • daycare

    general term covering both centre-based and home-based care; used more in American English

  • creche

    British term for workplace or temporary childcare; less common for permanent daily care

  • childcare centre

    formal term for a facility that provides care and supervision

  • playgroup

    part-time, often parent-led sessions for toddlers; less structured than a nursery

Grammar Patterns

nursery + verb (singular/plural)

at / in a nursery

Usage Note

In the UK, a nursery is also called a day nursery or creche. In American English, daycare centre or day care is more common for this sense.

Common Mistakes

I left my baby at the kindergarten at 8 am.
I left my baby at the nursery at 8 am.
Kindergarten focuses on early education for ages 4-5, not daily childcare for babies and toddlers.
She works in a nursery growing roses.' (when meaning childcare)
She works in a nursery looking after children.
The plant-cultivation sense and the childcare sense are different; context makes the meaning clear.

2. a bedroom inside a house that has been furnished for a baby or toddler, with ite

2.nounB1
Definition

a bedroom inside a house that has been furnished for a baby or toddler, with items for sleeping, changing nappies, and playing.

Example

The couple painted the nursery a soft shade of blue before the baby arrived.

Aarav's nursery had a small cot, a rocking chair, and shelves full of picture books.

cot, rocking chair, picture books — typical nursery furniture

Common collocations
  • nursery furniture
  • nursery wallpaper
  • decorate the nursery
  • set up the nursery
  • nursery rhyme
Synonyms

Grammar Patterns

the nursery

in the nursery

nursery + noun (nursery furniture)

Usage Note

Distinguish from sense 1 (CHILDCARE FACILITY): sense 2 refers to a room inside a private home, not a commercial or institutional childcare centre. Often used in the context of preparing a home for a new baby.

Common Mistakes

The baby sleeps in the nursery at the end of the street.
The baby sleeps in the nursery at home.
Use sense 1 (CHILDCARE FACILITY) for a place outside the home; use sense 2 (CHILDREN'S ROOM) for a room inside the house.

3. a commercial site where seedlings, shrubs, and saplings are cultivated to be sol

3.nounB1
Definition

a commercial site where seedlings, shrubs, and saplings are cultivated to be sold or moved into gardens and parks.

Example

We bought several rose bushes at the plant nursery near the river.

The nursery sells fruit trees, flowering shrubs, and vegetable seedlings.

sells fruit trees, shrubs, seedlings — typical nursery stock

Common collocations
  • plant nursery
  • tree nursery
  • nursery owner
  • visit the nursery
  • supply from a nursery
  • nursery stock
Synonyms
  • plant nursery

    fuller form that avoids ambiguity with childcare nursery

  • garden centre

    retail outlet that sells plants and gardening supplies; often larger and more customer-facing

  • greenhouse

    a glass building where plants are grown; narrower in meaning than nursery

Grammar Patterns

at a nursery

nursery + noun (nursery owner)

Common Mistakes

I bought tomato seedlings from the children's nursery.
I bought tomato seedlings from the plant nursery.
Use sense 3 (PLANT GROWING) when referring to plants; sense 1 (CHILDCARE FACILITY) is for children.

nursery — adjective

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Nursery, daycare, creche, kindergarten, and playgroup all refer to settings where young children spend time away from their parents, but they differ in structure and focus. Daycare (or day care) is the broadest term, covering any supervised care during the day, including after-school programmes for older children — whereas nursery (British) or nursery school more specifically blends care with early learning activities. Creche is a chiefly British term for temporary or workplace childcare, often used for short sessions rather than daily full-time care. Kindergarten (age 4-5 in the US and Canada; age 3-5 in some other systems) is primarily an educational programme that prepares children for primary school, whereas a nursery can accept children from infancy. Playgroups are informal, usually part-time gatherings where parents or carers stay with the children, so they offer less independence than a nursery. For example, a working parent would say 'I drop my toddler off at nursery every morning,' but a parent looking for social activities might say 'we go to a playgroup on Tuesday mornings.'

daycarecrechekindergarten ↗playgroup

Common collocations

Nouns

  • nursery school
  • nursery teacher
  • nursery fees
  • nursery place
  • nursery rhyme
  • nursery furniture
  • nursery wall

Phrases

  • go to nursery
  • start nursery
  • attend nursery
  • decorate a nursery
  • set up a nursery
  • nursery of plants

Prepositions

  • at nursery
  • in the nursery
  • from nursery
  • to nursery

Etymology

LatinOld FrenchMiddle EnglishEnglish

The word nursery traces back through Middle English to Old French norricerie, meaning 'the art of raising children,' which came from norrice ('nurse'), itself from Latin nutrix ('one who suckles, nourishes'). The childcare meaning appeared in the 15th century. By the 17th century, the term had been extended to plant cultivation — a place where young plants are nourished until they are strong enough to be moved — reflecting the same idea of protective fostering until maturity.