Meaning of culture in English
Noun
cultureEtymology
Middle English (denoting a cultivated piece of land): the noun from French culture or directly from Latin cultura‘growing, cultivation’; the verb from obsolete French culturer or medieval Latin culturare, both based on Latin colere‘tend, cultivate’ (see cultivate). In late Middle English the sense was ‘cultivation of the soil’ and from this (early 16th century), arose ‘cultivation (of the mind, faculties, or manners’); culture (sense 1 of the noun) dates from the early 19th centuryDefinitions
1. a particular society at a particular time and placeExamples
- « early Mayan civilization »
- 2. the tastes in art and manners that are favored by a social group
- 3. all the knowledge and values shared by a society
- 4. (biology) the growing of microorganisms in a nutrient medium (such as gelatin or agar)
Examples
- « the culture of cells in a Petri dish »
- 5. (bacteriology) the product of cultivating micro-organisms in a nutrient medium
- 6. a highly developed state of perfection
Examples
- « having a flawless or impeccable quality »
- « they performed with great polish »
- « I admired the exquisite refinement of his prose »
- « almost an inspiration which gives to all work that finish which is almost art--Joseph »
- 7. the attitudes and behavior that are characteristic of a particular social group or organization
Examples
- « the developing drug culture »
- « the reason that the agency is doomed to inaction has something to do with the FBI culture »
- 8. the raising of plants or animals
Examples
- « the culture of oysters »