<B>cultivate, </B>transitive verb, <B>-vated,</B> <B>-vating.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>to prepare and use (land) to raise crops by plowing it, planting seeds, and taking care of the growing plants; till. <BR> <I>Ex. He cultivates a farm of 500 acres.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to help (plants) grow by labor and care. <BR> <I>Ex. She cultivates most of her flowers from seed.</I> <DD><B> 3a. </B>to loosen the ground around (growing plants) to kill weeds and help growth. <BR> <I>Ex. It took all afternoon to cultivate the corn.</I> <DD><B> b. </B>to loosen or break up (the ground) with a cultivator. <BR> <I>Ex. The farmer cultivated his fields just before planting time.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>(Figurative.) to improve or develop by education or training. <BR> <I>Ex. It takes time, thought, and effort to cultivate your mind.</I> (SYN) train, refine. <DD><B> 5. </B>(Figurative.) to give time, thought, and effort to; practice. <BR> <I>Ex. An artist cultivates his craft.</I> (SYN) cherish. <DD><B> 6. </B>(Figurative.) to promote the growth or development of (an art, science, or other undertaking or study). (SYN) foster. <DD><B> 7. </B>(Figurative.) to establish or strengthen. <BR> <I>Ex. Friendships cultivated in school often last a lifetime.</I> <DD><B> 8. </B>(Figurative.) to seek the friendship of; seek better acquaintance with. <BR> <I>Ex. She cultivated people who could help her.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="cultivated">
<B>cultivated, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>prepared and used to raise crops. <BR> <I>Ex. A field of wheat is cultivated land; a pasture is not.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>produced by cultivation; not wild. <BR> <I>Ex. The American Beauty rose is a cultivated flower.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>(Figurative.) improved or developed. <BR> <I>Ex. a cultivated understanding.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>(Figurative.) cultured; refined. <BR> <I>Ex. cultivated tastes. France ... still considers itself the most cultivated country in Europe (New Yorker).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="cultivation">
<B>cultivation, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the act of preparing land and growing crops by plowing, planting, and necessary care. <BR> <I>Ex. Better cultivation of soil will result in better crops.</I> (SYN) husbandry. <DD><B> 2. </B>the condition of being prepared by plowing, planting, and necessary care. <BR> <I>Ex. Only half the farm was under cultivation.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>(Figurative.) improvement or development. <DD><B> 4. </B>(Figurative.) the act of giving time and thought to improving and developing (the body, mind, or manners). <BR> <I>Ex. Some adults stress the cultivation of good manners.</I> <DD><B> 5. </B>(Figurative.) culture; result of improvement or growth through education and experience; refinement. </DL>
<A NAME="cultivator">
<B>cultivator, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a person or thing that cultivates. <BR> <I>Ex. Only the easygoing Malay, with no inherited business experience, has been left behind, following in most cases his traditional life as cultivator and fisherman (Atlantic).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a tool or machine used to loosen the ground and destroy weeds. A cultivator is pulled or pushed between rows of growing plants. </DL>
<A NAME="cultofpersonality">
<B>cult of personality,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a cult centering on the figure of a national leader or hero, especially one who encourages or enforces such a cultism, regarded in some Communist states as a negation of Marxist-Leninist doctrine. </DL>
<A NAME="cultrate">
<B>cultrate, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> sharp-edged and pointed, as a leaf or the beak of a bird. </DL>
<A NAME="cultrated">
<B>cultrated, </B>adjective. =cultrate.</DL>
<A NAME="cultsociety">
<B>cult society,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Anthropology.) a society or social group held together by a religious motive. </DL>
<A NAME="culturable">
<B>culturable, </B>adjective. =cultivable.</DL>
<A NAME="cultural">
<B>cultural, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>having to do with culture; of development and training of the mind. <BR> <I>Ex. Literature, art, and music are cultural studies.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>at or in which cultural studies or pursuits are fostered. <BR> <I>Ex. [In the 1920's] Harlem became a black cultural center and attracted writers, musicians, artists, and entertainers (Edgar Allan Toppin).</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>(Anthropology.) of or belonging to a culture. <BR> <I>Ex. cultural artifacts, cultural traits.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>of or having to do with the physical or mental developments of a culture. <BR> <I>Ex. cultural geography, cultural history.</I> <DD><B> 5. </B>of or having to do with agriculture or horticulture. <BR> <I>Ex. The most widely used cultural controls are crop rotation, ... raising insect-resistant breeds, and clearing the land of breeding grounds (Albert A. LaPlante, Jr.).</I> <DD><B> 6. </B>of or having to do with biological cultures. <BR> <I>Ex. cultural methods for growing bacteria.</I> adv. <B>culturally.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="culturalanthropology">
<B>cultural anthropology,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the branch of anthropology that deals with the origins, development, and functioning of human cultures. <BR> <I>Ex. In contrast to physical anthropology which ... is concerned mainly with man's bodily structure, cultural anthropology deals with man's behavior and specifically with the ways in which human beings carry out the activities involved in daily living (Beals and Hoijer).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="culturalevolution">
<B>cultural evolution,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Anthropology.) the gradual development of a culture through successive stages, usually of increasing complexity, as from savagery to barbarism and from barbarism to civilization. </DL>
<A NAME="culturalexchange">
<B>cultural exchange,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> an exchange between two countries of visiting teachers, students, artists, athletes, or other groups, to promote mutual understanding by familiarizing the two peoples with one another's culture. </DL>
<A NAME="culturalize">
<B>culturalize, </B>transitive verb, <B>-ized,</B> <B>-izing.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> to subject to the influence of civilization or culture. <BR> <I>Ex. to culturalize a primitive tribe.</I> noun <B>culturalization.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="culturallag">
<B>cultural lag,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Sociology.) the interval of time between technological change and social adaptation; culture lag. </DL>
<A NAME="culturalrevolution">
<B>cultural revolution,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a complete transformation of the institutions of a culture or society. <BR> <I>Ex. We need an alternative program, an alternative both to development and to merely political revolution. Let me call this alternative program either institutional or cultural revolution, because its aim is the transformation of both public and personal reality (Ivan Illich).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>Usually, <B>Cultural Revolution.</B> a major drive by Chinese Communists led by Mao Tse-tung, begun in 1966 and lasting several years, to enforce Maoist ideology and purge China of revisionist leaders and influences. </DL>
<A NAME="culturalrevolutionary">
<B>cultural revolutionary,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> an advocate or supporter of cultural revolution. </DL>
<A NAME="culturati">
<B>culturati, </B>noun pl.<DL COMPACT><DD> the cultured class; cultured people. </DL>
<A NAME="culture">
<B>culture, </B>noun, verb, <B>-tured,</B> <B>-turing.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>fineness of feelings, thoughts, tastes, or manners; refinement. <BR> <I>Ex. He is a man of culture who appreciates the great art and fine sculpture in the museum.</I> (SYN) breeding. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Anthropology.) <DD><B> a. </B>the civilization of a given people or nation at a given time or over all time; its customs, its arts, and its conveniences. <BR> <I>Ex. The series of lectures included the culture of the Plains Indians, of the Pygmies, of the ancient Incas, and of modern Japan.</I> <DD><B> b. </B>socially inherited artifacts. <DD><B> 3. </B>the development of the mind or body by education or training. <BR> <I>Ex. physical culture courses.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>the preparation of land to raise crops by plowing, planting, and necessary care; cultivation. (SYN) tillage. <DD><B> 5a. </B>the raising by proper or special care of bees, fish, silkworms, oysters, or other plants or animals, for their natural products, especially as a source of food or profit. <BR> <I>Ex. the culture of the vine, the culture of silk.</I> <DD><B> b. </B>the rearing of plants or animals with the aim of improving them. <DD><B> 6. </B>the growth of germs or bacteria in a special solution for scientific study or medicinal use. <DD><B> a. </B>the resulting colony or growth. <BR> <I>Ex. When cultures of this bacterium are kept for some time ... their virulence becomes diminished (Edward E. Klein).</I> <DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B><B>=cultivate.</B> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Biology.) <DD><B> a. </B>to grow or propagate (bacteria, tissues, or other living matter) in a specially prepared artificial medium. <BR> <I>Ex. The organism has been successfully cultured.</I> <DD><B> b. </B>to use (a substance) as a source of or medium for culture. <BR> <I>Ex. to culture milk.</I> adj. <B>cultureless.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="culturearea">
<B>culture area,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Anthropology, Sociology.) the geographic area in which a culture complex is located. </DL>
<A NAME="culturecenter">
<B>culture center,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Anthropology, Sociology.) the place from which a culture trait or culture complex has emanated or where it is found in its most representative form; the center of a culture area. </DL>
<A NAME="culturecomplex">
<B>culture complex,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Anthropology, Sociology.) a pattern of interrelated culture traits. </DL>
<A NAME="cultured">
<B>cultured, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>having or showing culture; refined. <BR> <I>Ex. a cultured man of science.</I> (SYN) polished, well-bred. <DD><B> 2. </B>produced or raised by culture. <BR> <I>Ex. cultured oysters.</I> (SYN) propagated. </DL>
<A NAME="culturediffusion">
<B>culture diffusion,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Anthropology, Sociology.) the process by which a trait or pattern of culture spreads outward from the point of origin. <BR> <I>Ex. When missionaries are sent from one country to a "heathen" country, culture diffusion may take place by direction (Emory S. Bogardus).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="culturedpearl">
<B>cultured pearl,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a natural pearl produced by planting a tiny foreign body in an oyster to irritate its internal membranes and cause it to secrete a protective substance, that eventually hardens, around the irritating foreign body. </DL>
<A NAME="culturehero">
<B>culture hero,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Anthropology.) any mythical hero of folklore and legend who is believed to be responsible for man's condition, advancement, and culture. </DL>
