inculcate

EnglishEdit

WOTD – 14 July 2009

EtymologyEdit

Borrowed from Latin inculcātus, perfect passive participle of inculcō (“impress upon, force upon”), from in + calcō (“tread upon, trample”), from calx (“heel”).

PronunciationEdit

(UK, US) IPA^(key): /ˈɪn.kʌl.keɪt/

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VerbEdit

inculcate (third-person singular simple present inculcates, present participle inculcating, simple past and past participle inculcated)

(transitive) To teach by repeated instruction.
Synonyms: instill, ingrain
- 1820, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Oedipus Tyrannus; Or, Swellfoot The Tyrant: A Tragedy in Two Acts:
  Those impious Pigs,
  Who, by frequent squeaks, have dared impugn
  The settled Swellfoot system, or to make
  Irreverent mockery of the genuflexions
  Inculcated by the arch-priest, have been whipt
  Into a loyal and an orthodox whine.
- 1932, Aldous Huxley, Brave New World:
  Wordless conditioning ... cannot inculcate the more complex courses of behaviour.
(transitive) To induce understanding or a particular sentiment in a person or persons.
- 1943, C. S. Lewis, The Abolition of Man:
  The right defense against false sentiments is to inculcate just sentiments.