nurse vs nursemaid

nurse

verb
  • To care for (someone), especially in sickness; to tend to. 

  • To drink slowly, to make it last. 

  • To breastfeed: to be fed at the breast. 

  • To foster, to nourish. 

  • To manage with care and economy. 

  • To breastfeed: to feed (a baby) at the breast; to suckle. 

  • To treat kindly and with extra care. 

  • To hold closely to one's chest 

  • To strike (billiard balls) gently, so as to keep them in good position during a series of shots. 

noun
  • One who, or that which, brings up, rears, causes to grow, trains, or fosters. 

  • A larva of certain trematodes, which produces cercariae by asexual reproduction. 

  • A person (usually a woman) who takes care of other people’s young. 

  • A shrub or tree that protects a young plant. 

  • A person trained to provide care for the sick. 

  • A lieutenant or first officer who takes command when the captain is unfit for his place. 

  • A nurse shark or dogfish. 

nursemaid

verb
  • To care for or look after. 

  • To tend to as a nursemaid. 

noun
  • A woman or girl employed to care for children. 

How often have the words nurse and nursemaid occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )