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culture

Pronunciation: /ˈkʌltʃə/
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Definition of culture

noun

[mass noun]
  • 1the arts and other manifestations of human intellectual achievement regarded collectively:20th century popular culture
  • a refined understanding or appreciation of culture:men of culture
  • 2the ideas, customs, and social behaviour of a particular people or society:Afro-Caribbean culture [count noun]:people from many different cultures
  • [with modifier] the attitudes and behaviour characteristic of a particular social group:the emerging drug culture
  • 3 Biology the cultivation of bacteria, tissue cells, etc. in an artificial medium containing nutrients:the cells proliferate readily in culture
  • [count noun] a preparation of cells obtained by culture:the bacterium was isolated in two blood cultures
  • 4the cultivation of plants:this variety of lettuce is popular for its ease of culture

verb

[with object] Biology
  • maintain (tissue cells, bacteria, etc.) in conditions suitable for growth: several investigators have attempted to culture biliary cells

Origin:

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 century

culture in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of culture in the US English dictionary

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