agriculture
Americannoun
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the science, art, or occupation concerned with cultivating land, raising crops, and feeding, breeding, and raising livestock; farming.
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the production of crops, livestock, or poultry.
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of agriculture
First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English, from Middle French, from Latin agrīcultūra, from agrī (genitive singular of ager “field”) + cultūra culture
Explanation
Agriculture describes the practice of growing crops or raising animals. Someone who works as a farmer is in the agriculture industry. The Latin root of agriculture is agri, or "field," plus cultura, "cultivation." Cultivating a piece of land, or planting and growing food plants on it, is largely what agriculture means. Raising animals for meat or milk also falls under the category of agriculture. If we didn't have agriculture, we'd all be running around the woods, picking berries and trying to shoot things.
Vocabulary lists containing agriculture
The Industrial Revolution - Introductory
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Down on the Farm
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The United States
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Higher fuel costs have directly impacted agriculture, from fertiliser production and irrigation to transport.
From Barron's • May 15, 2026
Khudokormov's agriculture conglomerate, Prodimex, is a significant trading partner with the European Union, according to US-based trade data aggregator ImportGenius.
From BBC • May 15, 2026
To nurture its drone industry, Beijing encourages numerous sectors, including agriculture, local government and tourism, to integrate drones, “complemented by public investment in enabling infrastructure, including the use of local government special bonds,” Rhodium writes.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 15, 2026
Because while the extractive sector is also important, it does not generate as many jobs as agriculture.
From Barron's • May 14, 2026
I sat on the library floor and hand-copied books on history, geography, civics, agriculture, and other subjects.
From "Lost Boy, Lost Girl" by John Bul Dau
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
