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📕 rednote ID(小红书号)：3881567312

Cultivate: Definition, Usage & Examples (3 meaning)

Meaning 1：develop skill (cultivate)

cultivate 🔊

/ˈkʌltɪveɪt/

vt.

To work to develop or improve something, like a skill, habit, or friendship, through effort and care over time.

Cultivate skill illustrated by a person practicing a musical instrument with focus.

develop skill 🔊

➕

/dɪˈveləp skɪl/

vt.

To deliberately and patiently work on improving an ability, quality, or relationship.

📁 Category：School Education 🔖 Level：Intermediate

📘 Details & Usage

📖 Root Explanation

From Latin 'cultivare', from 'cultus' (past participle of 'colere' meaning 'to till, cultivate') + '-ate' (verb-forming suffix).

💡 Mnemonic

Carefully Using Love To Incubate Valuable Attributes Through Effort. (C.U.L.T.I.V.A.T.E.)

📖 Example

He spends an hour every day reading to cultivate a good learning habit. 🔊 He dedicates time daily to reading to develop a beneficial learning routine.

🔗 Collocations

cultivate a relationship – to deliberately develop a friendship or professional connection

cultivate an interest – to nurture and develop a new hobby or area of curiosity

cultivate a talent – to work on improving a natural ability

🔄 Synonyms

nurture (vt.) – To encourage the growth or development of.

foster (vt.) – To promote the growth or development of something.

develop (vt.) – To cause to grow or become more advanced.

🚫 Antonyms

neglect (vt.) – To fail to care for or give proper attention to.

stifle (vt.) – To prevent or restrain the development of.

🌱 Derivatives

cultivation (n.) – The process of trying to acquire or develop a quality or skill.

cultivated (adj.) – Refined and well-educated; having or showing good taste.

📖 Cultural Story

The word 'cultivate' originates from Latin 'cultivare', meaning 'to till'. This agricultural root metaphorically extended to mental and social development during the Enlightenment, reflecting the era's idea that human qualities, like crops, could be nurtured and improved through deliberate effort.

Meaning 2：grow crops (cultivate)

cultivate 🔊

/ˈkʌltɪveɪt/

vt.

To prepare land and grow crops on it, like a farmer does.

Cultivate land scene showing a farmer planting seedlings in a sunlit field.

grow crops 🔊

➕

/ɡroʊ krɑːps/

vt.

To prepare and use land for growing plants or crops; to farm.

📁 Category：Botany Research 🔖 Level：Elementary

📘 Details & Usage

📖 Example

My grandfather taught me how to cultivate tomatoes in our backyard garden. 🔊 My grandfather showed me the method for growing tomatoes in our garden.

🔗 Collocations

cultivate the land – to prepare soil and grow crops on a piece of ground

cultivate rice – to grow rice as a crop

intensively cultivate – to farm land with high inputs of labor and resources to maximize yield

🔄 Synonyms

farm (v.) – To make one's living by growing crops or raising livestock.

till (vt.) – To prepare and work on land for the raising of crops.

grow (vt.) – To cause (a plant) to develop and reach maturity.

🚫 Antonyms

abandon (vt.) – To cease to support or look after; to desert a piece of land.

neglect (vt.) – To fail to tend to or care for (land or plants).

🌱 Derivatives

cultivation (n.) – The action of cultivating land, or the state of being cultivated.

cultivator (n.) – A person or machine that prepares land for crops.

Meaning 3：tend garden (cultivate)

cultivate 🔊

/ˈkʌltɪveɪt/

vt.

To care for and improve something carefully to make it better or more attractive.

Cultivate garden diagram of a gardener carefully pruning a blooming rose bush.

tend garden 🔊

➕

/tend ˈɡɑːrdn/

vt.

To care for (plants or a garden) by labor such as digging, watering, and weeding.

📁 Category：Culture & History 🔖 Level：Intermediate

📘 Details & Usage

📖 Example

She loves to cultivate her small balcony into a beautiful flower garden. 🔊 She enjoys carefully tending her balcony to transform it into a lovely floral space.

🔗 Collocations

cultivate a garden – to work on and maintain a garden

carefully cultivate – to tend to something with great attention and precision

🔄 Synonyms

tend (vt.) – To care for or look after; give one's attention to.

nurture (vt.) – To care for and encourage the growth or development of (a plant).

maintain (vt.) – To keep (a garden or area) in good condition.

🚫 Antonyms

ignore (vt.) – To refuse to take notice of or act on; disregard.

ruin (vt.) – To damage or spoil something severely.