cultivation

[kuhl-tuh-vey-shuhn]

noun

1. the act or art of cultivating.

2. the state of being cultivated. cultivated.

3. culture; refinement.

   Synonyms: taste, breeding, gentility

cultivation

/ ˌkʌltɪˈveɪʃən /

noun

1. agriculture

   1. the planting, tending, improving, or harvesting of crops or plants

   2. the preparation of ground to promote their growth

2. development, esp through education, training, etc

3. culture or sophistication, esp social refinement

Other Word Forms

• noncultivation noun
• overcultivation noun
• precultivation noun
• recultivation noun
• self-cultivation noun
• uncultivation noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of cultivation¹

First recorded in 1690–1700; cultivate + -ion

Example Sentences

"As cardamom is the queen of spices and a cash crop lot of people have started get in to cultivation," she says.

Read more on BBC

The total area under opium poppy cultivation this year was estimated at 10,200 hectares, mostly in the north-east of the country, with Badakhshan province accounting for the largest share.

Read more on BBC

The scientists evaluated whether SAI could help stabilize conditions for grape, coffee, and cacao cultivation across major growing areas in western Europe, South America, and West Africa.

Read more on Science Daily

The study, supported by FAPESP, focused on sunflower meal because sunflower oil is already widely used in Europe, and sunflower cultivation is steadily increasing in Brazil.

Read more on Science Daily

By the eve of the Civil War, America’s prodigious cotton cultivation had grown by orders of magnitude once again, nearing two billion pounds.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• farming 
• gardening 
• horticulture 
• planting www.thesaurus.com

When To Use

What does cultivation mean?

Cultivation is the act of growing something or improving its growth, especially crops.Cultivation can also be used in a more figurative way to refer to the same kind of process, except that the thing being grown or improved is often an abstract thing, such as a business or a friendship.Cultivation is a noun form of the verb cultivate.The literal sense of cultivation is most often used in the context of agriculture, but it can also refer to things being grown in a laboratory. Its figurative sense can apply to the development of many different things, such as relationships, skills, and even cultures.Example: The rich soil in this region is ideal for the cultivation of a variety of crops.