Other forms: cherished, cherishes, cherishing
To cherish something is to love it and look after it because it matters to you. A grandmother's ring kept in its box, a friendship you make time for, the photograph you would grab first in a fire.
You cherish people, and you cherish the things that stand for people: letters, memories, a hope you have carried for years. The wedding vow is to love, honour and cherish, which tells you the temperature of the word — this is not the verb for liking a television programme. Cherished sits comfortably before a noun: a cherished memory, her most cherished possession, a long-cherished plan. Cherish is warmer than value and gentler than treasure, and it always carries care as well as feeling, because you protect what you cherish. A cherished belief is one somebody holds on to hard, and in that phrase the word turns quietly critical.
1verbloveTo love someone deeply and take care of them.
“He cherished his wife through forty years and two long illnesses.”
2verbcherishTo hold something dear and keep it safe because it means a great deal to you.
“She cherishes the letters her father sent from the hospital.”
synonyms: treasure, prize
3verbhopeTo keep a hope, memory or belief alive over a long time.
“He cherished the idea of buying a boat one day.”
Also accepted in games: treasure
Cherish grew out of Old French chierir, to hold dear, whose root is cher, 'dear' — the word still heard in chérir and chéri. That comes from Latin cārus, 'beloved', and further back from a Proto-Indo-European root meaning to desire or wish. Middle English cherishen already covered affection, kindness and hospitality, so the word has always meant treating someone well, not only feeling something.
Proto-Indo-European
*keh₂- — to desire, wish
Latin
cārus — beloved, dear
Old French
cheriss-
Middle English
charish
English, today
cherish
Built from
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 cheriss-, chieriss-, extended stem of 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.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA