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cultivate

KUL-tih-vayt /ˈkʌl.tɪ.veɪt/

verbB2GRESATIELTSTOEFL

generalacademic

To prepare and use land for crops or gardening; or to foster and nurture a skill or relationship.

Implies deliberate, sustained care and effort over time to promote growth.

The story behind the word. Derived from Medieval Latin 'cultivare', based on Latin 'cultus' (tilled, tended), the past participle of 'colere' (to till, inhabit, care for, honor). This root also gives us words like 'culture' and 'cult'.

Word relationships

farm: Farm is broad and includes animal raising, while cultivate focuses specifically on preparing soil and tending plants.
nurture: Nurture applies broadly to feeding and encouraging growth in living things or ideas, whereas cultivate retains a strong earth-tilling metaphor.

neglect: Neglect means leaving unmaintained and untended.
abandon: Abandon means giving up care of land or ideas.

Commonly confused with

harvest: Cultivate is the process of growing and tending crops; harvest is gathering them once fully grown.

Word family

cultivation (noun): The action of cultivating land or developing a skill.
cultivator (noun): A person or machine that tills land.

Collocations

cultivate crops
cultivate the soil
cultivate relationships
cultivate an interest

Idioms & expressions

cultivate one's garden

Example sentences

"Farmers in the river valley cultivate wheat and barley on fertile alluvial plains." Farming technique description

Memory hook

CULTIVATE = CULTivate your crops with CARE. Care for soil and crops.

When not to use

Do not use for sudden, passive, or accidental growth.

Fun facts

The Latin root 'colere' gave us both 'agriculture' (tilling fields) and 'culture' (tilling the human mind).