material culture
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of material culture
First recorded in 1925–30
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How does material-culture compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
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.
On top of its potential communicative importance and intrinsic value as a cultural behavior, accumulative stone throwing involves durable primate material culture, the loss of which would constitute the erasure of primate heritage.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 28, 2026
The Shakers, with their signature spare style, have had an outsize impact on material culture, considering their numbers—a peak estimated at 6,000 members in the mid-19th century—and segregation from the world.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 4, 2026
The burials had scanty grave goods—a bead and a dog paw—so it’s hard to connect them to any particular material culture.
From Science Magazine ● Jun. 19, 2024
The pictures record L.A. and vicinity, the sculptures connect to Mesoamerican material culture.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 20, 2023
The differing availability of raw materials imposed an obvious constraint on material culture.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
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.
