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.
There was no sign the virus had spread to other animal populations, poultry or agriculture systems, "and there remains a low risk to human health", the minister said.
From Barron's ● Jul. 10, 2026
At the same time, foreign retaliation has hurt America’s farmers and depressed purchases of agriculture equipment.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026
Experts say the river needs dredging, desilting and measures to restore its flow for agriculture.
From BBC ● Jul. 6, 2026
This is far more than another wave of technological displacement, such as the shift from agriculture to industry, or from manufacturing to services.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 6, 2026
Southwest and Southeast was slow, because the intervening areas were deserts hostile to agriculture.
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.
