cultivate

English

Etymology

From 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

• IPA^(key): /ˈkʌltɪveɪt/
• Hyphenation: cul‧ti‧vate

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Verb

cultivate (third-person singular simple present cultivates, present participle cultivating, simple past and past participle cultivated)

1. To grow plants, notably crops.

   Most farmers in this region cultivate maize.

2. (figuratively) 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

   • 2021 June 7, Mark Landler, “As a Tense Summer Looms, Northern Ireland Braces”, in The New York Times‎^[1], ISSN 0362-4331:

     […] after four years in which President Donald J. Trump had cultivated Mr. Johnson and expressed sympathy for Britain in its bitter divorce with the European Union.

3. To turn or stir soil in preparation for planting.

Derived terms

• cultivable
• cultivar
• cultivated
• cultivation
• cultivator
• uncultivated

 

Translations

grow plants, notably crops

• Azerbaijani: yetişdirmək (az), yetirmək (az), bozartmaq, becərmək
• Bulgarian: отглеждам (bg) (otgleždam)
• Catalan: conrear (ca), cultivar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 耕種 (zh), 耕种 (zh) (gēngzhòng), 種植 (zh), 种植 (zh) (zhòngzhí)

• Czech: obdělávat
• Danish: dyrke (da)
• Dutch: telen (nl), verbouwen (nl)
• Finnish: viljellä (fi)
• French: cultiver (fr)
• Galician: cultivar (gl), traballar (gl)
• German: kultivieren (de), anbauen (de)
• Hebrew: גידל‎ (gidél)
• Interlingua: cultivar
• Italian: coltivare (it)
• Japanese: 栽培する (ja) (さいばいする, saibai suru)

• Kapampangan: mangambul
• Khmer: ធ្វើកសិកម្ម (tvəə ka’se’kam)
• Korean: 갈다 (ko) (galda)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: کشتوکاڵ کردن‎ (kiştukall kirdin)

• Latin: colō
• Maori: whakatupu, tāmata
• Ngazidja Comorian: ulima
• Norman: tchultiver (Jersey)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: kultivere (no), dyrke (no)

• Portuguese: cultivar (pt), plantar (pt)
• Russian: выра́щивать (ru) impf (vyráščivatʹ), вы́растить (ru) pf (výrastitʹ), культиви́ровать (ru) impf or pf (kulʹtivírovatʹ)
• Scottish Gaelic: àitich
• Spanish: cultivar (es)
• Swedish: odla (sv)

nurture

• Azerbaijani: bəsləmək (az)
• Bulgarian: подхранвам (bg) (podhranvam)
• Catalan: conrear (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 培育 (zh) (péiyù), 培養 (zh), 培养 (zh) (péiyǎng)

• Danish: pleje
• Dutch: cultiveren (nl), verzorgen (nl)
• Finnish: herättää (fi)
• French: cultiver (fr)
• German: kultivieren (de), pflegen (de)
• Hebrew: טיפח‎ (tipéakh)

• Italian: coltivare (it)
• Japanese: 養う (ja) (やしなう, yashinau)
• Khmer: ចម្រើនលូតលាស់ (jɑɑmraən luut loah)
• Korean: 갈고닦다 (galgodakda), 연마하다 (yeonmahada)
• Latin: colō
• Norman: tchultiver (Jersey)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: dyrke (no)

• Portuguese: cultivar (pt), alimentar (pt)
• Russian: культиви́ровать (ru) impf or pf (kulʹtivírovatʹ)

turn or stir soil in preparation for planting

• Bulgarian: обработвам (bg) (obrabotvam), култивирам (bg) (kultiviram)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 耕種 (zh), 耕种 (zh) (gēngzhòng), 種植 (zh), 种植 (zh) (zhòngzhí)

• Dutch: bewerken (nl)
• Finnish: muokata (fi), (to plough) kyntää (fi), (to harrow) äestää (fi)
• French: cultiver (fr)
• German: bestellen (de)
• Hebrew: עיבד‎ (ibéd)

• Italian: coltivare (it)
• Japanese: 耕す (ja) (たがやす, tagayasu), 耕作する (ja) (こうさくする, kōsaku suru)
• Korean: 갈다 (ko) (galda)
• Maori: pako, pāpako, tāmata
• Norman: tchultiver (Jersey)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: dyrke (no)

• Portuguese: lavrar (pt)
• Russian: возде́лывать (ru) impf (vozdélyvatʹ), возде́лать (ru) pf (vozdélatʹ), обраба́тывать (ru) impf (obrabátyvatʹ), обрабо́тать (ru) pf (obrabótatʹ)
• Ukrainian: обробля́ти impf (obrobljáty), оброби́ти pf (obrobýty)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Spanish: ^{(please verify)} cultivar (es)
• Swedish: ^{(please verify)} odla (sv)

• Telugu: ^{(please verify)} సాగు చేయు (sāgu cēyu)

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Interlingua

Participle

cultivate

1. past participle of cultivar