day nursery

IPA/ˈdeɪ nɜːsəri/
IPA/ˈdeɪ nɜːrsəri/

day nursery — noun

1. a place that looks after babies and small children during the daytime, especiall

1.nounB2
Definition

a place that looks after babies and small children during the daytime, especially so that their parents can go out to work

Example

Ignacio dropped his daughter at the day nursery before catching the early bus.

drop [a child] at the day nursery — typical at/in pattern

The day nursery on Maple Road has space for forty babies and toddlers.

Common collocations
  • start at a day nursery
  • a place at the day nursery
  • a workplace day nursery
Synonyms
  • crèche

    British; usually shorter or occasional care, often at a gym, event, or workplace

  • daycare

    American English term for much the same service

  • nursery

    broader; can also mean a nursery school that teaches three- to five-year-olds

Usage Note

Chiefly British; American English usually says 'day care' or 'daycare center'. Distinguish from a 'nursery school', which focuses on early teaching for three- to five-year-olds rather than all-day care for the children of working parents.

Common Mistakes

We bought our tomato plants at the day nursery.
We bought our tomato plants at the garden nursery.
a day nursery is for young children, not plants; a place that sells plants is a garden nursery.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

A day nursery, a crèche, a nursery, and day care all involve looking after young children, but they differ in scope and region. A day nursery (chiefly British) offers full-day care for babies and pre-school children, mainly so that parents can work. A crèche is usually shorter or occasional — the temporary care you find at a gym, a conference, or a shopping centre. Nursery on its own is broader: it can mean a day nursery, but it also names a nursery school that gently teaches three- to five-year-olds. Day care, and the American spelling daycare, is the everyday North American term covering much the same service as a British day nursery. Choose day nursery for ongoing British childcare, crèche for short drop-in care, and nursery school when early teaching is the main point.

crèche ↗nursery ↗day carenursery school

Common collocations

Nouns

  • day nursery staff
  • day nursery worker
  • a day nursery place

Phrases

  • run a day nursery
  • attend a day nursery
  • send a child to a day nursery

Prepositions

  • at a day nursery
  • in a day nursery

Etymology

LatinOld FrenchEnglish

Day nursery simply joins the everyday word 'day' with 'nursery', a room or place set aside for looking after the very young. 'Nursery' travelled through Old French from a Latin word for feeding and nourishing — the same root behind 'nurse' and 'nourish'. The 'day' part marks it out from a residential nursery: the children arrive in the morning and go home again at night.

First known use

1850

1850, in the meaning defined above