cultivate
English
editEtymology
editFrom Medieval Latin cultivātus, perfect passive participle of cultivō (“till, cultivate”), 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”).
Pronunciation
editVerb
editcultivate (third-person singular simple present cultivates, present participle cultivating, simple past and past participle cultivated)
- To grow plants, notably crops.
- Most farmers in this region cultivate maize.
- (figurative) To nurture; to foster; to tend.
- They tried to cultivate an interest in learning among their students.
- 1819, John William Polidori, The Vampyre:
- Left also to himself by guardians […] he cultivated more his imagination than his judgment
- To turn or stir soil in preparation for planting or as a method of weed control between growing crop plants.
Derived terms
editTranslations
editgrow plants, notably crops
|
nurture
|
turn or stir soil in preparation for planting
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Interlingua
editParticiple
editcultivate
Spanish
editVerb
editcultivate
- second-person singular voseo imperative of cultivar combined with te
Categories:
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *kʷel-
- English terms derived from Medieval Latin
- English terms derived from Latin
- English 3-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio pronunciation
- English lemmas
- English verbs
- English terms with usage examples
- English terms with quotations
- Interlingua non-lemma forms
- Interlingua participles
- Spanish non-lemma forms
- Spanish verb forms