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Added 9 October 2026

cultivate

/ˈkʌltɪveɪt/ verb

In Latin: colō Wiktionary

verb Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about cultivate at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

Foster the growth of.
Prepare for crops.
Work the soil
Teach or refine to be discriminative in taste or judgment.
Cultivate your musical taste

Origin

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”).

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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