Undernourishes

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To supply a person or entity with inadequate nutrients, leading to negative health consequences and impaired development
2. To fail to meet the nutritional needs essential for health and growth in individuals or populations
3. Fails to give enough nutrients for proper health and growth

Etymology: The verb "undernourish" is a plain compound: the prefix "under-", meaning insufficiently or below what is needed, joined to "nourish," which comes into English from Old French "norrir" (to feed, bring up), itself from Latin "nutrire." "Undernourishes" is simply the third-person singular present form, used with "he," "she," "it," or a singular noun, so it describes something that feeds a body, or a mind or soil, too little. The pattern is productive: English has long built verbs with "under-" to mean doing something insufficiently, such as "underestimate" or "underpay." Here the sense is literal and physical as often as figurative, since a person, animal, or plant can be undernourished, and the word has been used in that bodily sense for a long time.

Synonyms: malnourishes, starves