cherish

Etymology

From Middle English charish, cherishen (“to have affection for, hold dear, treat kindly; to esteem, respect; to cherish; to take care of; to greet; to entertain, treat hospitably; to cheer; to encourage, incite”), from Old French cherir, chierir (“to cherish”) (modern French chérir (“to cherish”)), from cher, chier (“dear, dearest”) (from Latin cārus (“beloved, dear”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *keh₂- (“to desire, wish”)) + -ir (“suffix forming infinitives of second conjugation verbs”).

verb

1. To treat with affection, care, and tenderness; to nurture or protect with care.
   But the parent, we will ſuppose, cheriſhes his child with an affectionate indulgent care, and with all the circumſpection and aſſiduity that nature requires, in his infirm helpleſs ſtate of infancy; aſſiſts and cheriſhes his underſtanding, in its tender growth does; his utmoſt, according to his ability, to inculcate and impreſs religious principles, […] 1752, James Foster, “Some Observations on the True Ground of the Duty of Parents towards Their Children, and on Its General Nature, and Offices”, in Discourses on All the Principal Branches of Natural Religion and Social Virtue, volume II, London: Printed for the author; and sold by Mr. Noon [et al.], →OCLC, pages 95–96
2. To have a deep appreciation of; to hold dear.
   I cherish your friendship.
   So by cheriſhing Humility, Pride is weakned, by cheriſhing Patience, Violent Paſſions, and Anger, and Peeviſhneſs are deſtroyed, by cheriſhing Purity, and Chaſtity of Heart and Thoughts, Uncleanneſs is mortified, and ſo by cheriſhing heavenly mindedneſs, the love of the world is abated and weakned: and the like might be ſhewed in other inſtances. 1665, Samuel Cradock, “Of Righteousness, Sanctification, and Holiness of Life”, in Knowledge and Practice: Or, A Plain Discourse, of the Chief Things Necessary to be Known, Believ’d, and Practised in Order to Salvation.[…], 2nd revised and inlarged edition, London: Printed for William Grantham[…], Henry Mortlock[…], and William Miller[…], →OCLC, pages 77–78
   The age in which all thought that trades must be established by bounties and prohibitions; that manufacturers needed their materials and qualities and prices to be prescribed; and that the value of money could be determined by law; was an age which unavoidably cherished the notions that a child's mind could be made to order; that its powers were to be imparted by the schoolmaster; that it was a receptacle into which knowledge was to be put and there built up after its teacher's ideal. 1898, Herbert Spencer, “Intellectual Education”, in Education: Intellectual, Moral, and Physical, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton and Company,[…], →OCLC, pages 98–99
   We came under the influence of his Mahadev Govind Ranade's] work and his thoughts, and we owe it to ourselves to show that his memory is to us a most cherished possession. 24 July 1904, Gopal Krishna Gokhale, chapter III, in Speeches of Gopal Krishna Gokhale, 3rd edition, Madras: G. A. Natesan & Co., published 1920, →OCLC, page 787
   We should cherish the life we live / Cherish the love, cherish the life, cherish the love / Cherish the love we have / For as long as we both shall live 10 May 1985, Robert “Kool” Bell et al. (lyrics and music), “Cherish”, in Emergency, performed by Kool & the Gang
   The Master said: "The gentleman cherishes virtue; the small man cherishes land. The gentleman cherishes institutions; the small man cherishes favors." 1997, Confucius, “Book Four: Li Ren (To Live among Men of Humanity)”, in Chichung Huang, transl., The Analects of Confucius (Lun Yu): A Literal Translation with an Introduction and Notes, New York, N.Y., Oxford: Oxford University Press, paragraph 4.11, page 68
3. (obsolete) To cheer, to gladden.