cultivate
/ˈkʌltɪveɪt/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.42 in modern English
14
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
3
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "Most farmers in this region cultivate maize."
- "So unhealthy is this valley, which is the home of large game, that whole kraals full of people who have tried to cultivate the rich land, have died in it of fever, or fled away leaving their crops unreaped."
- "My hobby is gathering the spores of some of the most delicious of the wild varieties of mushrooms, such as morels, giant puffballs and woods oysters, then cultivating them."
- "In Ch'iung-hai Hsien of the same island, this year "Chen-chu-ai" has been cultivated over vast areas, yielding large increases and as 2,730 tons of the breed already harvested in June have been sent to Chekiang province, it is expected that it will be cultivated widely in Chekiang in 1966."
- "They tried to cultivate an interest in learning among their students."
- "Left also to himself by guardians[…] he cultivated more his imagination than his judgment"
Etymology
From Medieval Latin cultivātus, perfect passive participle of cultivō (“till, cultivate”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) for more), from cultīvus (“tilled”), from Latin cultus, perfect passive participle of colō (“till, cultivate”), which comes from earlier *quelō, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷel- (“to move; to turn (around)”). Cognates include Ancient Greek πέλω (pélō) and Sanskrit चरति (cárati). The same Proto-Indo-European root also gave Latin in-quil-īnus (“inhabitant”) and anculus (“servant”).
Origin
- Source language: Latin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈkʌltɪveɪt/
- British English: /ˈkʌltɪveɪt/