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.
The EU's food and agriculture commissioner, Christophe Hansen, said the bloc was taking the incidents very seriously and warned of further disruption in the future.
From BBC ● Nov. 3, 2026
EU food and agriculture commissioner Christophe Hansen said at the time that "food security requires more attention at all levels".
From Barron's ● Nov. 2, 2026
In agriculture, the same knowledge could help researchers develop cereal crops that are less likely to fall over before harvest.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 1, 2026
The plan is aimed at “maintaining as much irrigated agriculture as possible,” Max Gomberg, of the nonprofit California Water Impact Network, told the board.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 30, 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
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
