Nu-tri'tion, n.
(nu-trish'un), n. [L. Lat. nutritio, from Lat. nutrire, to nourish; Fr. nutrition, Pr. nutricio, Sp. nutricion, It. nutrizione.]
Sense 1. The act or process of promoting the growth or repairing the waste of animal or vegetable life; the process by which food is digested, assimilated, and made nourishing; the fundamental property of organized matter, on which all the phenomena of life are based; the process of change, of composition and decomposition, which is constantly taking place in all living tissues.
☞ In its widest signification, nutrition includes all the actions which concur in supporting the processes of assimilation, and the change or removal of matter of the tissues, as digestion, absorption, &c.
Sense 2. That which nourishes; nutriment.
Fixed like a plant, on his peculiar spot, To draw nutrition, propagate, and rot. Pope.