Culture Meaning: Here’s What It Means and How To Use It

Culture is one of the most interesting and important things in the world. This is the meaning of culture and how to explore it today!

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Culture is one of the most important creations from human beings. One of the primary ways that humans are separated from the rest of living creatures is based on the fact that we have enough organization and awareness to develop unique cultures and communities. 

Even if culture isn’t something that you think about often, it’s something that you interact with every single day. Virtually every person is in a specific social group or a particular group of people, influencing their preferences, tastes, and decisions. Knowing how to appreciate and differentiate between these cultures is both tricky and incredibly important. 

If you want to live the most fruitful life possible in the world today, learning how to integrate and interact with culture is one of the most important steps you can take. This is what culture is, where the word itself comes from, and how it works in the world today. 

What Is Culture? 

The definition of culture (ˈ k ʌ l tʃ ər) in the English dictionary is the arts, customs, achievements, and collective attitudes of a specific social group or location. While there may be similarities between cultures, each culture has its own aspects, quirks, and elements. 

One of the most common ways that cultures are created is through people who share the same ethnicity or physical location. For example, American culture will be different from African or European culture, and New York culture will be different from Chicago culture. Similarly, cultures can differ depending on personal factors, including race, age, religion, and even musical preference. 

Culture is also found inside different organizations and companies. This is typically referred to as corporate culture. At the end of the day, you will have a different set of written or unwritten rules virtually anywhere that need to be followed. These rules can dictate peoples’ attitudes toward life and the rest of the world. 

Anthropologists are the people that study the different aspects of cultures. But you don’t need to get a college degree to look into culture — just looking at the popular culture around you can help you understand what culture is and how it works. Just remember that while your own culture is unique, other cultures are just as valid as your own! 

What Is the Etymology of Culture? 

The word culture is fascinating because it comes from many words in other languages, but all of those words came from the same word. It’s the epitome of a romance language word, and it goes to show that language at large is both deeply interconnected and constantly shifting. 

The word culture began with the Latin colere, which means to tend to or cultivate something. This word was used in the context of farmers tending to their crops and farming the land. As time went on, the term shifted into the Medieval Latin cultura or cultus, which retained essentially the same meaning. 

Over the centuries, this word entered many languages in various forms, including French and English. Around the time Middle English was starting to take shape, the word cultivate was becoming more and more common regarding food and farming. However, as discussions around anthropology and psychology became more and more prominent, the word culture started to be used in its modern contexts. 

Synonyms for Culture

If you looked into a thesaurus for word lists of synonyms for the word culture, you would likely find words including: 

  • Civilization
  • Society
  • Lifestyle
  • Customs
  • Traditions
  • Heritage
  • Values
  • Habits
  • Way of life
  • Ways

How Culture Is Used Today

In the modern world, the ideas and thoughts of culture are incredibly relevant. As the world is slowly getting more and more interconnected, it’s becoming critically important to understand that different cultures are worth understanding. 

If you ever move from one location, organization, or social group to another, you will experience a culture change. It’s important to remember that that isn’t a bad thing — it’s just how the world works! Even if some aspects of life seem different at first, you can get used to them over time. 

Example Sentences Using the Word Culture

One of the best ways to learn how to use a word is by seeing it in real-world use. That’s how everyone learns how to speak and communicate, and that specific kind of learning continues throughout a person’s entire life! Here are some examples of the word culture in a sentence: 

Based on the first world fascination with material objects, most people from poorer countries think we have a material culture. 

When I changed jobs last year, I had to go through several weeks of culture shock before figuring out how things worked in my new place! 

The biology department based almost their entire culture on their fervent passion for microorganisms. 

I learned the hard way that when a meeting is set for a particular time at this new job, arriving any later is seen as disrespectful in this culture. 

The gym culture here is intensely focused on ensuring that everyone gets the right amount of nutrients every day. 

Conclusion

If you want to learn more about the English language and how it works, check out our blog here at The Word Counter! We’re constantly creating new articles and posts to help inform people about best practices surrounding complicated grammar, confusing words, and strange phrases. 

If you want to learn more about how you can make your communication as successful as possible, look at some of our latest articles and posts right here! 

Sources: 

  1. Culture Definition & Meaning | Britannica Dictionary
  2. CULTURE | Cambridge English Dictionary
  3. Culture Definition & Meaning | Dictionary.com