culture

noun cul·ture \ ˈkəl-chər \

Definition of culture

1 :cultivation, tillage

We ought to blame the culture, not the soil.
—Alexander Pope

2 :the act of developing the intellectual and moral faculties especially by education

3 :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 skills

a person of culture

5 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 (such 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 (such as bacteria or viruses) in prepared nutrient media; also :a product of such cultivation

See culture defined for English-language learners

See culture defined for kids

Examples of culture in a Sentence

In this new view, genes allow the human mind to learn, remember, imitate, imprint language, absorb culture and express instincts. —Matt Ridley, Time, 2 June 2003
Such an explanation seems sensible to a technologically advanced and ruthlessly competitive culture like our own, where anybody who fails to get at least a college degree … risks spending a life busing tables or telemarketing. —Natalie Angier, New York Times, 2 July 2002
There is an Arctic Indian tribe, the Gwich'in—the northernmost Indians in the United States—who base their diet and culture on the caribou. —Jimmy Carter, National Geographic Traveler, October 2001
Underlying the question "Is this as good as it gets?" was a female j'accuse—against a consumer culture where values like caring had been severely discounted. —Susan Faludi, Newsweek, 8 Jan. 2001
a study of Greek language and culture
Her art shows the influence of pop culture.
It's important to learn about other cultures.
The company's corporate culture is focused on increasing profits.
an area that has been criticized for its lack of culture

Recent Examples of culture from the Web

Maurício Guidi of Pinheiro Neto, a firm of lawyers, observes that the reform might even change this confrontational workplace culture into a more consensual one.

— The Economist, "Bye-bye, BenitoAn overhaul of Brazilian labour law should spur job creation," 20 July 2017
The Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego invites the community to experience an evening of all-access culture tonight at Downtown at Sundown.

— carolina gusman, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Party downtown at sundown at Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego," 20 July 2017
At The FADER, Amos Barshad tells this story of clashing cultures and religious bias.

— aaron gilbreath, Longreads, "Architecture and Religious Bias: A California Case Study," 20 July 2017
Enjoy the culture of Colombia including live music, traditional dances, arts and crafts and food, starting at 6 p.m. at the Pembroke Pines City Center, 601 SW City Center Blvd.

— jennifer jhon, South Florida Parenting, "Best events for kids this weekend: Free museum day, fun fests," 19 July 2017
The Tylt is focused on debates and conversations around news, current events and pop culture.

— the tylt, AL.com, "Do we need laws to guarantee equal pay for women?," 19 July 2017
That Baylor could ever have sunk to such a shocking and appalling culture, that leadership in coaching and administration could have been so callous, is a nightmare scenario.

— blair kerkhoff, kansascity, "Welcome fellas! New Big 12 football coaches walking into tall tasks," 18 July 2017
Deters said what many people are thinking: Jurors bring their implicit bias from their lives and culture into the courtroom, and there's just no way of getting around that in America.

— byron mccauley, Cincinnati.com, "McCauley: In Tensing case, race is the elephant in the room," 18 July 2017
From music to television, art to film, Garner has become a pop culture juggernaut.

— paula rogo, Essence.com, "Eric Garner Three Years Later: A Life Remembered," 17 July 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'culture.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of culture

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

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 15th century

See Words from the same year

culture Synonyms

Synonyms

accomplishment, civilization, couth, cultivation, polish, refinement

Antonyms

barbarianism, barbarism, philistinism

Related Words

education, erudition, intellectualism, intellectuality, knowledge, learning, literacy, scholarship; cosmopolitanism, sophistication, urbanity; breeding, genteelness, gentility, manners; class, elegance, grace, taste; civility, courteousness, courtesy, politeness

Near Antonyms

ignorance, illiteracy; parochialism, provincialism, rusticity, unsophistication; boorishness, churlishness, clownishness, coarseness, crudeness, vulgarity

Other Agriculture/Gardening Terms

fallow, graft, heirloom, loam, potash, soilage, swath, tilth, windfall

culture

verb cul·ture \ ˈkəl-chər \

Definition of culture

cultured; culturing play \ˈkəlch-riŋ, ˈkəl-chə-\

transitive verb

1 :cultivate

2 a :to grow in a prepared medium

culture microorganisms

b :to start a culture from (see ¹culture 6)

culture soil

See culture defined for English-language learners

Examples of culture in a Sentence

The virus is cultured in the laboratory from samples of infected tissue.
culture bacteria in laboratory dishes

Recent Examples of culture from the Web

One postdoc presents data on her efforts to develop an organoid model for small-cell lung cancer; another reports progress on culturing hormone-secreting organoids from human gut tissue.

— gunjan sinha, Science | AAAS, "This scientist is building miniature guts, livers, and lungs that could save your life one day," 23 Aug. 2017
In exchange for this darkened future, Trump’s enablers were promised everything from lower taxes (financed by health care for younger people) to culture war to a nonspecific assault on the political establishment.

— brian beutler, New Republic, "Republicans, Remove This Madman From Power," 11 Aug. 2017
The resulting product has a simpler list of ingredients and is cultured in the glass jar in which it is sold.

— candice choi, The Seattle Times, "After Greek and Icelandic, is French the next trendy yogurt?," 26 June 2017
Red yeast rice, a traditional Chinese medicine whose U.S. sales topped $40 million in 2014, is made by culturing rice with strains of yeast that turn the rice red.

— karen weintraub, USA TODAY, "Red yeast rice - Can it lower your bad cholesterol?," 23 June 2017
In 2013, Rogue Ales, of Newport, Ore., released a beer brewed with the yeast cultured from nine hairs from the brew master’s beard.

— lauren williams, Orange County Register, "The most hyper-local beer in the world uses yeast from your backyard," 24 May 2017
Culturing your own butter is old-school; blending your own ketchup is crazy old-school.

— phil vettel, chicagotribune.com, "George Trois review: Winnetka restaurant-within-a-restaurant is superb," 12 May 2017
The research center cultured the mussels on-site by helping them grow them from larvae nearly impossible to see without a microscope to juveniles.

— erin hegarty, Naperville Sun, "Homegrown freshwater mussels could help keep DuPage River clean," 29 Apr. 2017
Doctors cultured her cancerous cells to create what became known as the HeLa strain, cells capable of reproducing and dividing outside the body—a medically vital discovery that led to research breakthroughs, vaccines, gene mapping, and more.

— sulagna misra, vanityfair.com, "How the Strange Saga of Henrietta Lacks Became an Oprah-Approved Film," 21 Apr. 2017

Origin and Etymology of culture

see ¹culture

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1510

See Words from the same year

culture Synonyms

Synonyms

crop, cultivate, grow, dress, promote, raise, rear, tend

Related Words

breed, produce, propagate; plant, sow; gather, glean, harvest, reap; germinate, quicken, ripen, root, sprout

Near Antonyms

kill; dig, extirpate, pick, pluck, pull (up), uproot; cut, hay, mow

Other Biology Terms

autochthonous, fecund, homunculus, phylogeny, substrate

CULTURE Defined for English Language Learners

culture

noun

Definition of culture for English Language Learners

: the beliefs, customs, arts, etc., of a particular society, group, place, or time
: a particular society that has its own beliefs, ways of life, art, etc.
: a way of thinking, behaving, or working that exists in a place or organization (such as a business)

culture

verb

Definition of culture for English Language Learners

: to grow (something) in controlled conditions

CULTURE Defined for Kids

culture

noun cul·ture \ ˈkəl-chər \

Definition of culture for Students

1 :cultivation 1

2 :the raising or development (as of a crop or product) by careful attention

grape culture

3 :the appreciation and knowledge of the arts (as music, dance, and painting)

4 :the habits, beliefs, and traditions of a particular people, place, or time

Greek culture

Medical Dictionary

culture

noun cul·ture \ ˈkəl-chər \

medical Definition of culture

1 a :the integrated pattern of human behavior that includes thought, speech, action, and artifacts and depends upon the human 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

2 a :the act or process of growing living material (as bacteria or viruses) in prepared nutrient media

b :a product of cultivation in nutrient media

—