culture
Pluralcultures
Pluralcultures
Formscultures, culturing, cultured
- 1The ideas, customs, art, and way of life of a group of people or a country.
Like the special set of habits and tastes one country is known for.
French culture places a high value on long, leisurely meals.
Each nation builds a culture shaped by its history and surroundings.
UsageSay French culture, but a culture or two cultures for separate societies.
Similarcivilization
Note
- 2The shared rules, ideas, and values that a community agrees to follow.
Like the unwritten rulebook everyone in a group somehow knows.
Workplace culture often decides what behavior gets rewarded.
A company's culture can encourage honesty or quietly punish it.
UsageSay company culture or workplace culture.
- 3A person's ethnic group or race, along with its art and customs.
Like the family roots and traditions you are born into.
She felt proud of her culture and its old traditions.
No one should be treated unfairly because of their culture or race.
UsageFor family origin, ethnicity is clearer. For customs, say culture.
Similarheritage, background
Note
- 4A group of bacteria or cells grown on purpose, for example in a lab.
Like a patch of mold spreading across old bread.
The doctor sent the culture to the lab for testing.
A green culture had formed on the surface of the dish.
UsageA doctor may take a culture to test for germs.
- 5Short for archaeological culture. It means the things a past people left behind that mark their way of life.
Archaeologists named the new culture after the valley where they dug.
The pottery belongs to a culture that vanished long ago.
UsageUsually has a name: the Clovis culture.
Note
Less common meanings
- 6The act of growing bacteria or other tiny living things in a special dish or liquid.
Like planting seeds in soil, but the seeds are tiny germs and the soil is jelly.
Culture of the bacteria began as soon as the sample reached the lab.
Cell culture is an important skill in any biology lab.
UsageSay cell culture or culture of bacteria.
Similarcultivation
Note
- 7To grow living things like bacteria by keeping them in a good place to grow.
Like keeping a plant in a warm window so it grows.
Scientists culture bacteria to study how they spread.
The lab cultures bacteria from each sample in small glass dishes.
UsageUse culture for germs in a lab and cultivate for plants.
- 8The growing of plants or crops by working the soil.
Like a gardener carefully raising plants from seed to harvest.
Farmers in this area have practiced grape culture for many generations.
Rice culture needs fields that can hold water.
UsageSay rice culture or the culture of olives.
Similarcultivation, growing, farming
Note
- 9Knowledge and habits that one generation teaches the next, even among animals.
Like a recipe handed down from parent to child, even among animals.
Some birds learn their songs as a kind of culture from their parents.
Tool use among chimpanzees can spread as culture through a group.
UsageSay culture in animals or animal culture.
Note
- 10To help people's interest in art, science, or learning grow and develop.
- 11The human-made details on a map, such as town names, roads, and boundary lines.
Showing meanings only.
Practice
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Origin
It came from Latin "cultura," meaning cultivation, from "colo," meaning to till, grow, or worship. It reached English through Middle French "culture."
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 4 facts
- Culture derives from Latin cultura, meaning cultivation. en.wiktionary.org
- Latin cultura derives from colo. en.wiktionary.org
- Colo means to till, grow, or worship. en.wiktionary.org
- Culture reached English through Middle French culture. en.wiktionary.org