culture

culture (ˈkʌltʃə)

—n
1.	the total of the inherited ideas, beliefs, values, and knowledge, which constitute the shared bases of social action
2.	the total range of activities and ideas of a group of people with shared traditions, which are transmitted and reinforced by members of the group: the Mayan culture
3.	a particular civilization at a particular period
4.	the artistic and social pursuits, expression, and tastes valued by a society or class, as in the arts, manners, dress, etc
5.	the enlightenment or refinement resulting from these pursuits
6.	the attitudes, feelings, values, and behaviour that characterize and inform society as a whole or any social group within it: yob culture
7.	the cultivation of plants, esp by scientific methods designed to improve stock or to produce new ones
8.	stockbreeding the rearing and breeding of animals, esp with a view to improving the strain
9.	the act or practice of tilling or cultivating the soil
10.	biology
	a. See also culture medium the experimental growth of microorganisms, such as bacteria and fungi, in a nutrient substance (culture medium), usually under controlled conditions
	b. a group of microorganisms grown in this way

—vb
11.	to cultivate (plants or animals)
12.	to grow (microorganisms) in a culture medium

[C15: from Old French, from Latin cultūra a cultivating, from colere to till; see cult]

'culturist

—n

'cultureless

—*adj*

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

culture

mid-15c., "the tilling of land," from L. cultura, from pp. stem of colere "tend, guard, cultivate, till" (see cult). The figurative sense of "cultivation through education" is first attested c.1500. Meaning "the intellectual side of civilization" is from 1805; that of "collective

customs and achievements of a people" is from 1867.

"For without culture or holiness, which are always the gift of a very few, a man may renounce wealth or any other external thing, but he cannot renounce hatred, envy, jealousy, revenge. Culture is the sanctity of the intellect." [William Butler Yeats]

Slang culture vulture is from 1947. Culture shock first recorded 1940

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage

Medical Dictionary

culture cul·ture (kŭl'chər)
n.

The growing of microorganisms, tissue cells, or other living matter in a specially prepared nutrient medium.
Such a growth or colony, as of bacteria.

v. cul·tured, cul·tur·ing, cul·tures

To grow microorganisms or other living matter in a specially prepared nutrient medium.
To use a substance as a medium for culture.

American Heritage

Science Dictionary

culture

(kŭl'chər) Pronunciation Key
Noun

A growth of microorganisms, viruses, or tissue cells in a specially prepared nutrient medium under supervised conditions.
The totality of socially transmitted behavior patterns, arts, beliefs, institutions, and all other products of human work and thought. Culture is learned and shared within social groups and is transmitted by nongenetic means.

Verb To grow microorganisms, viruses, or tissue cells in a nutrient medium.

American Heritage

Cultural Dictionary

culture definition

The sum of attitudes, customs, and beliefs that distinguishes one group of people from another. Culture is transmitted, through language, material objects, ritual, institutions, and art, from one generation to the next.

Note: Anthropologists consider that the requirements for culture (language use, tool making, and conscious regulation of sex) are essential features that distinguish humans from other animals.

Note: Culture also refers to refined music, art, and literature; one who is well versed in these subjects is considered “cultured.”

Example sentences

Its influence and culture had spread across the land, and it had inspired fear

among its enemies.

Language that demeans is inconsistent with the values and culture of our

organization, and is not tolerated.

On the other hand, even on the coldest days, the campus basks in the warmth of

a culture that values cohesion over isolation.

The ugly truth is that the general culture can't handle hardcore culture.

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culture diffusion education ethnolinguistics Hohokam midcult nonmaterial culture

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Matching Quote

"Culture, then, is a study of perfection, and perfection which insists on becoming something rather than in having something, in an inward condition of the mind and spirit, not in an outward set of circumstances."

-Matthew Arnold