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Webster 1913 Edition

Culture

Cul′ture

(k?l′t?r; 135)
,
Noun.
[F.
culture
, L.
cultura
, fr.
colere
to till, cultivate; of uncertain origin. Cf.
Colony
.]
1.
The act or practice of cultivating, or of preparing the earth for seed and raising crops by tillage;
as, the
culture
of the soil
.
2.
The act of, or any labor or means employed for, training, disciplining, or refining the moral and intellectual nature of man;
as, the
culture
of the mind
.
If vain our toil
We ought to blame the
culture
, not the soil.
Pepe.
3.
The state of being cultivated; result of cultivation; physical improvement; enlightenment and discipline acquired by mental and moral training; civilization; refinement in manners and taste.
What the Greeks expressed by their
παιδεία
, the Romans by their
humanitas
, we less happily try to express by the more artificial word
culture
.
J. C. Shairp.
The list of all the items of the general life of a people represents that whole which we call its
culture
.
Tylor.

Cul′ture

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Cultured
(-t?rd; 135)
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Culturing
.]
To cultivate; to educate.
They came . . . into places well inhabited and
cultured
.
Usher.

Webster 1828 Edition

Culture

CULTURE

,
Noun.
[L. See Cultivate.]
1.
The act of tilling and preparing the earth for crops; cultivation; the application of labor or other means of improvement.
We ought to blame the culture, not the soil.
2.
The application of labor or other means to improve good qualities in, or growth; as the culture of the mind; the culture of virtue.
3.
The application of labor or other means in producing; as the culture of corn, or grass.
4.
Any labor or means employed for improvement, correction or growth.

CULTURE

,
Verb.
T.
To cultivate.

Definition 2024

culture

culture

See also: culturé

English

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Noun

culture ‎(countable and uncountable, plural cultures)

  1. The arts, customs, lifestyles, background, and habits that characterize a particular society or nation.
    • 2013 September 7, “Farming as rocket science”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8852:
      Such differences of history and culture have lingering consequences. Almost all the corn and soyabeans grown in America are genetically modified. GM crops are barely tolerated in the European Union. Both America and Europe offer farmers indefensible subsidies, but with different motives.
  2. The beliefs, values, behaviour and material objects that constitute a people's way of life.
    • 2012 March-April, Jan Sapp, “Race Finished”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 2, page 164:
      Few concepts are as emotionally charged as that of race. The word conjures up a mixture of associations—culture, ethnicity, genetics, subjugation, exclusion and persecution.
  3. (microbiology) The process of growing a bacterial or other biological entity in an artificial medium; the growth thus produced.
  4. (anthropology) Any knowledge passed from one generation to the next, not necessarily with respect to human beings.
  5. The collective noun for a group of bacteria.
  6. (botany) Cultivation.
  7. (computing) The language and peculiarities of a geographical location.
    A culture is the combination of the language that you speak and the geographical location you belong to. It also includes the way you represent dates, times and currencies.
  8. (cartography) The details on a map that do not represent natural features of the area delineated, such as names and the symbols for towns, roads, meridians, and parallels.

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Verb

culture ‎(third-person singular simple present cultures, present participle culturing, simple past and past participle cultured)

  1. (transitive) To maintain in an environment suitable for growth (especially of bacteria).
  2. (transitive) To increase the artistic or scientific interest (in something).

Translations

Related terms

See also

French

Etymology

From Latin cultūra ‎(“cultivation; culture”), from cultus, perfect passive participle of colō ‎(“till, cultivate, worship”), from Proto-Indo-European *kʷel- ‎(“to move; to turn (around)”).

Pronunciation

Noun

culture f ‎(plural cultures)

  1. crop
  2. culture ‎(“arts, customs and habits”)

Italian

Noun

culture f

  1. plural of cultura

Latin

Participle

cultūre

  1. vocative masculine singular of cultūrus

Spanish

Verb

culture

  1. Formal second-person singular (usted) imperative form of culturar.
  2. First-person singular (yo) present subjunctive form of culturar.
  3. Formal second-person singular (usted) present subjunctive form of culturar.
  4. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted?) present subjunctive form of culturar.

Etymology

From Middle French culture ‎(“cultivation; culture”), from Latin cultūra ‎(“cultivation; culture”), from cultus, perfect passive participle of colō ‎(“till, cultivate, worship”) (related to colōnus and colōnia), from Proto-Indo-European *kʷel- ‎(“to move; to turn (around)”).

Pronunciation

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