culture
cul·ture/ˈkʌlt͡ʃə/noun, verb
culture is spelled C-U-L-T-U-R-E: 7 letters and 2 syllables (cul·ture). It appears 107 times per million words in written English, the 996th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, culture means “The arts, customs, lifestyles, background, and habits that characterize humankind, or a particular society or nation” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of culture is cultures.
How many letters and syllables are in culture?
| Letters | 7: C-U-L-T-U-R-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: cul·ture |
| In writing | 107 times per million words; the 996th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is culture?
Culture appears 107 times per million words in written English, the 996th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce culture?
- British /ˈkʌlt͡ʃə/
- British [ˈkʰʌlt͡ʃə]
- /ˈkʊlt͡ʃə/
Culture has 2 syllables, split cul·ture in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-uk-culture.ogg, En-us-culture.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of culture
- cultures plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- culcha
- culturing participle, present
- cultured participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does culture mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The arts, customs, lifestyles, background, and habits that characterize humankind, or a particular society or nation.
- 2
The beliefs, values, behaviour, and material objects that constitute a people's way of life.
- 3
The conventional conducts and ideologies of a community; the system comprising the accepted norms and values of a society.
- 4
Any knowledge passed from one generation to the next, not necessarily with respect to human beings.
- 5
Cultivation.
http://counties.cce.cornell.edu/suffolk/grownet/flowers/sprgbulb.htm The Culture of Spring-Flowering Bulbs
- 6
The process of growing a bacterial or other biological entity in an artificial medium.
- 7
The growth thus produced.
I'm headed to the lab to make sure my cell culture hasn't died.
- 8
A group of bacteria.
verb
- 1
to maintain in an environment suitable for growth (especially of bacteria) (compare cultivate)
- 2
to increase the artistic or scientific interest (in something) (compare cultivate)
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate culture?
Wiktionary records one abbreviation of culture: Cx.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Culture in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | culture , cultiver |
| German | Kultur |
| Portuguese | cultura , cultivar |
| Spanish | cultura , cultivar , cultivo |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does culture come from?
From Middle French culture (“cultivation; culture”), from Latin cultūra (“cultivation; culture”), from cultus, perfect passive participle of colō (“till, cultivate, to grow, worship”) (related to colōnus and colōnia), from Proto-Indo-European *kʷel- (“to move; to turn (around)”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).