cultus

English

Etymology

Latin cultus (“cultivation, culture”). See cult.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkʌl.təs/

Noun

cultus (plural cultuses)

1. Established or accepted religious rites or customs of worship; state of religious development.
   • 1879, F. D. Morice, Pindar, chapter 8, page 124:

     Among the rituals which members of their family had inaugurated in other states of Greece, was a peculiar cultus of Hermes (Mercury) at Stymphalus in Arcadia.

See also

• cultus cod (different etymology)

References

• “cultus”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Chinook Jargon

Alternative forms

• kultus

Etymology

From Chinook kaltas (“in vain, only”), which is also written as ka'ltas, káltas, káltaš, etc.

Adjective

cultus

1. worthless

Further reading

• George Gibbs (1863) “Cul'-tus, adj.”, in A Dictionary of the Chinook Jargon, Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution, →OCLC, page 3
• George Coombs Shaw (1909) “Cul'-tus, or Kul'tus, adj.”, in The Chinook Jargon and How to Use It, Seattle: Rainier Printing Co., →OCLC, page 4
• John Gill (1909) “Kŭl'-tŭs”, in Gill's Dictionary of the Chinook Jargon, fifteenth edition, Portland: J. K. Gill Company, →OCLC, page 58

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin cultus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkʏl.tʏs/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: cul‧tus

Noun

cultus m (plural cultussen, diminutive cultusje n)

1. (religion) cult, a particular tradition of worship or veneration of deities, ancestors, guardians or saints
2. (religion) religious service

Usage notes

• For the pejorative sense of cult (“socially marginal, proscribed or deviant religious group”), see sekte.

Derived terms

• cultusplaats

Descendants

• Afrikaans: kultus

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈkul.tus/, [ˈkʊɫ̪t̪ʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈkul.tus/, [ˈkul̪t̪us]

Etymology 1

Perfect passive participle of colō (“till, cultivate; worship”).

Participle

cultus (feminine culta, neuter cultum, comparative cultior, superlative cultissimus); first/second-declension participle

1. tilled, cultivated, having been cultivated
2. protected, nurtured, having been protected
3. (figuratively) worshipped, honored, having been worshipped
4. (figuratively) dressed, clothed, adorned, having been adorned
   • 8 CE, Ovid, Fasti 3.538:

     cultaque diffūsīs saltat amīca comīs

     and the fashionably dressed girlfriend is dancing with her hair undone

     (literally, “having been adorned, the girlfriend is dancing with her hair undone”)

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

Number	Singular				Plural
Case / Gender	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter		Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	cultus	culta	cultum		cultī	cultae	culta
Genitive	cultī	cultae	cultī		cultōrum	cultārum	cultōrum
Dative	cultō		cultō		cultīs
Accusative	cultum	cultam	cultum		cultōs	cultās	culta
Ablative	cultō	cultā	cultō		cultīs
Vocative	culte	culta	cultum		cultī	cultae	culta

Descendants

• → Catalan: culte
• Italian: colto
• Sicilian: curtu
• Spanish: culto
• Portuguese: culto, cultivado

Etymology 2

Noun

cultus m (genitive cultūs); fourth declension

1. The act of tilling or cultivating.
2. The act of honoring or worshipping, reverence, adoration, veneration; loyalty
3. A religious group, cult, sect.
4. Care directed to the refinement of life, cultural pursuit, civilization, culture, style; elegance, polish, refinement.
5. Style of dress, external appearance, clothing, attire; ornament, decoration, splendor.
6. (rare) The act of laboring at, labor, care, cultivation, culture.
7. (rare) Training, education, culture.

   Synonym: disciplīna

Declension

Fourth-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	cultus	cultūs
Genitive	cultūs	cultuum
Dative	cultuī	cultibus
Accusative	cultum	cultūs
Ablative	cultū	cultibus
Vocative	cultus	cultūs

Related terms

• agricola
• colō
• colōna
• colōnārius
• colōnātus
• colōnia
• colōniārius
• colōnicus
• colōnus
• culta
• cultē
• cultiō
• cultor
• cultūra

 

Descendants

• Asturian: cuchu
• → Catalan: culte
• → French: culte
  • → English: cult
  • → Romanian: cult
  • → Turkish: kült
• Galician: cuito
• → German: Kultus, Kult
  • → Hungarian: kultusz
• Italian: culto
• Portuguese: culto
• → Russian: культ (kulʹt)
• Spanish: cucho, → culto

References

• “cultus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “cultus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• cultus in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• cultus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • mental culture: animi, ingenii cultus (not cultura)
    
  • to be quite uncivilised: omnis cultus et humanitatis expertem esse
    
  • to be quite uncivilised: ab omni cultu et humanitate longe abesse (B. G. 1. 1. 3)
    
  • worship of the gods; divine service: cultus dei, deorum (N. D. 2. 3. 8)
    
  • (ambiguous) to civilise men, a nation: homines, gentem a fera agrestique vita ad humanum cultum civilemque deducere (De Or. 1. 8. 33)