Cultivate Meaning
/ˈkʌltɪveɪt/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
verbTo grow plants, notably crops.
verbTo nurture; to foster; to tend.
Sentence Examples
You must cultivate your mind.
Picture books will cultivate the minds of children.
CEFR Practice Quiz
Diligent farmers ____ the land every year to grow crops.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
You must ____ your mind.
Word Origin & History
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”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"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."
— 1917, H. Rider Haggard, Finished:
"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."
— 1958, Journal of Lifetime Living, volume 24, page 15:
"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."
— 1965 [1965 July 15], “The "Kwang-ch'ang-ai" and "Chen-chu-ai" Breeds”, in AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT SUSTAINED BY CROP IMPROVEMENT IN CHINA, CIA, published 2003, Document Number: CIA-RDP78-04546A003200010004-4, page 6:
"Left also to himself by guardians[…] he cultivated more his imagination than his judgment"
— 1819, John William Polidori, The Vampyre:
"The mix of ballet vocabulary, modern techniques and African steps is familiar, but the extent to which Mr. Rhoden packs — and overpacks — phrases, cultivates warp-speed delivery and hyperextends every possible hip jut and arabesque is, thank goodness, something special to Complexions."
— 2007 November 23, Claudia La Rocco, “Ballet and African Steps, Delivered at Warp Speed”, in The New York Times:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
Diligent farmers ____ the land every year to grow crops.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
You must ____ your mind.