Main Entry:

¹cul·ture

Pronunciation:

\ˈkəl-chər\

Function:

noun

Etymology:

Middle English, cultivated land, cultivation, from Anglo-French, from Latin cultura, from cultus, past participle

Date:

15th century

1: cultivation, tillage2: the act of developing the intellectual and moral faculties especially by education3: expert care and training <beauty culture>4 a: enlightenment and excellence of taste acquired by intellectual and aesthetic training b: acquaintance with and taste in fine arts, humanities, and broad aspects of science as distinguished from vocational and technical skills5 a: the integrated pattern of human knowledge, belief, and behavior that depends upon the capacity for learning and transmitting knowledge to succeeding generations b: the customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a racial, religious, or social group ; also : the characteristic features of everyday existence (as diversions or a way of life} shared by people in a place or time <popular culture> <southern culture> c: the set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterizes an institution or organization <a corporate culture focused on the bottom line> d: the set of values, conventions, or social practices associated with a particular field, activity, or societal characteristic <studying the effect of computers on print culture> <changing the culture of materialism will take time — Peggy O'Mara>6: the act or process of cultivating living material (as bacteria or viruses) in prepared nutrient media ; also : a product of such cultivation