1
a
: 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
b
: the set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterizes an institution or organization
a corporate culture focused on the bottom line
c
: 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
Peggy O'Mara
d
: the integrated pattern of human knowledge, belief, and behavior that depends upon the capacity for learning and transmitting knowledge to succeeding generations
2
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
3
: the act or process of cultivating living material (such as bacteria or viruses) in prepared nutrient media
also
: a product of such cultivation
4
: cultivation, tillage
We ought to blame the culture, not the soil.—Alexander Pope
Alexander Pope5
: the act of developing the intellectual and moral faculties especially by education
6
: expert care and training
beauty culture
cultured; culturing
ˈkəlch-riŋ 
ˈkəl-chə-
1
2
a
: to grow in a prepared medium
culture microorganisms
b
: to start a culture from (see culture entry 1 sense 3)
culture soil
Synonyms
Example Sentences
Noun
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
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
Verb
The virus is cultured in the laboratory from samples of infected tissue.
culture bacteria in laboratory dishes
See More
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
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
Verb
The virus is cultured in the laboratory from samples of infected tissue.
culture bacteria in laboratory dishes
See More
Recent Examples on the WebAnchorage Daily News, 29 May 2023
The choice of topics highlighted his culture war against progressives.
—Matthew Continetti, National Review, 27 May 2023
People in media have used practices like blackface, brownface, and yellowface—in which White actors wear makeup to change their skin color—largely to depict offensive caricatures of non-White characters.3 Whitewashing has continued to be prevalent in pop culture.
—Claire Gillespie, Health, 26 May 2023
Although the world champions Turner’s liberation from Ike and heralded her comeback story, the media, press, music and pop culture paid a significant role in the creation of conditions for survivors to be forever linked to their abusers.
—Taylor Crumpton, refinery29.com, 26 May 2023
Related:What to know about the Colorado River drought plan for Arizona, California and Nevada A water conservation culture A lack of government support for rainwater harvesting does not translate into a lack of action in communities.
—The Arizona Republic, 26 May 2023
An art museum supported by the county ought to be offering displays from cultures around the world, from as far back in history as possible, fostering pride in our diverse cultural richness.
—Ed Stockly, Los Angeles Times, 26 May 2023
Domestic consumers typically must save a much higher portion of their income owing to a comparably low rate of home ownership and the lack of a widespread equity culture.
—Christiaan Hetzner, Fortune, 26 May 2023
The phrase became a mantra for Tristan St. John Thompson, who is an academic and culture dean at Dream Charter High School in the South Bronx.
—Sadiba Hasan, New York Times, 26 May 2023
Ingrid Abramovitch, ELLE Decor, 2 May 2023
Upstarts or established players such as Google and Microsoft could get in the mix, but there’s no reason to believe that tech companies large or small are literary-minded enough to understand the distinctive sensations of bookiness, let alone to culture its multiple varieties.
—Ian Bogost, The Atlantic, 14 Sep. 2021
For the more ambitious, there is also the option to culture SCOBY at home.
—Alice Chi Phung, Discover Magazine, 3 Nov. 2015
Sign up Monkey blastoids promise to be better models, but the right recipe for culturing them proved elusive.
—Bymitch Leslie, science.org, 6 Apr. 2023
Failure to find a natural reservoir for a disease is not evidence of a non-natural origin: Ebola has been around for over 40 years, and scientists are pretty confident that bats are its natural reservoir, but nobody has ever been able to culture Ebola from a bat.
—Lindsay Beyerstein, The New Republic, 29 June 2021
Inserting two distinct forms of the gene into clusters of uncultured cells, the team discovered that the form of NOVA1 found in H. neanderthalensis created bumpier blobs of brain tissue when cultured, while the form of NOVA1 found in H. sapiens created smooth, spherical clumps.
—Sam Walters, Discover Magazine, 1 Mar. 2023
Creating life without sperm or eggs In experiments at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel, researchers created mouse embryos inside a bioreactor that were made up of stem cells cultured in a Petri dish — no egg, no sperm.
—Harold Maass, The Week, 24 Feb. 2023
However, scientists in several studies have generally been unable to culture live virus — a resource-intensive way that scientists can try to assess if someone is actually capable of spreading COVID-19 to others — from samples collected later than 9 days after symptoms begin.
—Alexander Tin, CBS News, 7 Jan. 2022
See More
Noun
Tents and booths include a children’s activity tent, lectures and workshops on Irish culture and history, a genealogy tent, vendors, food, a bake sale and more.
—Anchorage Daily News, 29 May 2023
The choice of topics highlighted his culture war against progressives.
—Matthew Continetti, National Review, 27 May 2023
People in media have used practices like blackface, brownface, and yellowface—in which White actors wear makeup to change their skin color—largely to depict offensive caricatures of non-White characters.3 Whitewashing has continued to be prevalent in pop culture.
—Claire Gillespie, Health, 26 May 2023
Although the world champions Turner’s liberation from Ike and heralded her comeback story, the media, press, music and pop culture paid a significant role in the creation of conditions for survivors to be forever linked to their abusers.
—Taylor Crumpton, refinery29.com, 26 May 2023
Related:What to know about the Colorado River drought plan for Arizona, California and Nevada A water conservation culture A lack of government support for rainwater harvesting does not translate into a lack of action in communities.
—The Arizona Republic, 26 May 2023
An art museum supported by the county ought to be offering displays from cultures around the world, from as far back in history as possible, fostering pride in our diverse cultural richness.
—Ed Stockly, Los Angeles Times, 26 May 2023
Domestic consumers typically must save a much higher portion of their income owing to a comparably low rate of home ownership and the lack of a widespread equity culture.
—Christiaan Hetzner, Fortune, 26 May 2023
The phrase became a mantra for Tristan St. John Thompson, who is an academic and culture dean at Dream Charter High School in the South Bronx.
—Sadiba Hasan, New York Times, 26 May 2023
Verb
Like his signature black and white attire, the designer was decisive (and sometimes derisive) in his observations about everything from fashion to celebrity to culture more broadly.
—Ingrid Abramovitch, ELLE Decor, 2 May 2023
Upstarts or established players such as Google and Microsoft could get in the mix, but there’s no reason to believe that tech companies large or small are literary-minded enough to understand the distinctive sensations of bookiness, let alone to culture its multiple varieties.
—Ian Bogost, The Atlantic, 14 Sep. 2021
For the more ambitious, there is also the option to culture SCOBY at home.
—Alice Chi Phung, Discover Magazine, 3 Nov. 2015
Sign up Monkey blastoids promise to be better models, but the right recipe for culturing them proved elusive.
—Bymitch Leslie, science.org, 6 Apr. 2023
Failure to find a natural reservoir for a disease is not evidence of a non-natural origin: Ebola has been around for over 40 years, and scientists are pretty confident that bats are its natural reservoir, but nobody has ever been able to culture Ebola from a bat.
—Lindsay Beyerstein, The New Republic, 29 June 2021
Inserting two distinct forms of the gene into clusters of uncultured cells, the team discovered that the form of NOVA1 found in H. neanderthalensis created bumpier blobs of brain tissue when cultured, while the form of NOVA1 found in H. sapiens created smooth, spherical clumps.
—Sam Walters, Discover Magazine, 1 Mar. 2023
Creating life without sperm or eggs In experiments at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel, researchers created mouse embryos inside a bioreactor that were made up of stem cells cultured in a Petri dish — no egg, no sperm.
—Harold Maass, The Week, 24 Feb. 2023
However, scientists in several studies have generally been unable to culture live virus — a resource-intensive way that scientists can try to assess if someone is actually capable of spreading COVID-19 to others — from samples collected later than 9 days after symptoms begin.
—Alexander Tin, CBS News, 7 Jan. 2022
See More
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'culture.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Etymology
Noun and Verb
Middle English, cultivated land, cultivation, from Anglo-French, from Latin cultura, from cultus, past participle — see cult
First Known Use
Noun
15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 4
Verb
1510, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Time Traveler
The first known use of culture was
in the 15th century
Phrases Containing culture
Dictionary Entries Near culture
Cite this Entry
“Culture.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/culture. Accessed 4 Jun. 2023.
Copy Citation
Kids Definition
culture
1 of 2 noun
cul·ture
ˈkəl-chər
2
: the raising or development of a product or crop by careful attention
bee culture
the culture of grapes
3
: improvement of the mind, tastes, and manners through careful training
4
a
: a particular stage, form, or kind of civilization
ancient Greek culture
b
: the beliefs, social practices, and characteristics of a racial, religious, or social group
c
: the characteristic features of everyday life shared by people in a particular place or time
southern culture
5
: cultivation of living material (as bacteria) in a special usually liquid or jellylike nutrient preparation
also
: a product of such cultivation
Medical Definition
culture
1 of 2 noun
cul·ture
ˈkəl-chər
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
culture
2 of 2 transitive verb
cultured; culturing
ˈkəlch-(ə-)riŋ
1
: to grow (as microorganisms or tissues) in a prepared medium
2
: to start a culture from
culture soil
also
: to make a culture of
culture milk
More from Merriam-Webster on culture
Nglish: Translation of culture for Spanish Speakers
Britannica English: Translation of culture for Arabic Speakers
Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about culture
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