cultivate

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”).

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

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

2. To grow plants, notably crops.

   Most farmers in this region cultivate maize.

   • 1917, H. Rider Haggard, Finished‎^[1]:

     So unhealthy is this valley, which is the home of large game, that whole kraals full of people who have tried to cultivate the rich land, have died in it of fever, or fled away leaving their crops unreaped.

   • 1958, Journal of Lifetime Living, volume 24, page 15:

     My hobby is gathering the spores of some of the most delicious of the wild varieties of mushrooms, such as morels, giant puffballs and woods oysters, then cultivating them.

   • 1965 [1965 July 15], “The "Kwang-ch'ang-ai" and "Chen-chu-ai" Breeds”, in AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT SUSTAINED BY CROP IMPROVEMENT IN CHINA‎^[2], CIA, published 2003, Document Number: CIA-RDP78-04546A003200010004-4, page 6‎^[3]:

     In Ch'iung-hai Hsien of the same island, this year "Chen-chu-ai" has been cultivated over vast areas, yielding large increases and as 2,730 tons of the breed already harvested in June have been sent to Chekiang province, it is expected that it will be cultivated widely in Chekiang in 1966.

4. (figurative) 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

   • 2007 November 23, Claudia La Rocco, “Ballet and African Steps, Delivered at Warp Speed”, in The New York Times‎^[4]:

     The mix of ballet vocabulary, modern techniques and African steps is familiar, but the extent to which Mr. Rhoden packs — and overpacks — phrases, cultivates warp-speed delivery and hyperextends every possible hip jut and arabesque is, thank goodness, something special to Complexions.

   • 2021 June 7, Mark Landler, “As a Tense Summer Looms, Northern Ireland Braces”, in The New York Times‎^[5], →ISSN:

     […] 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.

6. To turn or stir soil in preparation for planting or as a method of weed control between growing crop plants.

cultivate

1. past participle of cultivar

cultivate

1. second-person singular voseo imperative of cultivar combined with te