culture

culture — noun

1. The collection of traditions, beliefs, and daily habits that a particular commun

1.nounA2
Definition

The collection of traditions, beliefs, and daily habits that a particular community shares and passes down from older to younger members.

Example

Travelers often struggle at first with the local culture in a new country.

uncountable: local culture / traditional culture

The culture of the Himba people places great importance on cattle and family connections.

Common collocations
  • local culture
  • traditional culture
  • indigenous culture
  • youth culture
  • popular culture
  • ancient culture
  • modern culture
Synonyms
  • civilization

    broader term that includes advanced social, political, and technological development

  • tradition

    narrower — focuses specifically on customs passed down, not the whole way of life

  • heritage

    emphasizes what a group inherits from past generations

Grammar Patterns

culture + of + noun phrase

a/the culture of + group

Usage Note

Frequently used as an uncountable noun when referring to the general concept. As a countable noun ('a culture', 'cultures'), it refers to a particular society with its own distinct traditions.

Common Mistakes

Chinese culture has thousands years of history.
Chinese culture has thousands of years of history.
'culture' is uncountable in this sense, so no article is needed, and 'thousands of' requires 'of'.

2. The values, unwritten rules, and typical ways of behaving that members of an org

2.nounB1
Definition

The values, unwritten rules, and typical ways of behaving that members of an organization or a social group share with one another.

Example

The company's culture encourages employees to share ideas freely across departments.

possessive: company's culture / school's culture

A culture of fear spread through the office after several people lost their jobs.

collocation: culture of fear / culture of blame

Common collocations
  • corporate culture
  • company culture
  • workplace culture
  • organizational culture
  • school culture
  • team culture
  • political culture
  • culture of secrecy
  • culture of innovation
  • culture of blame
Synonyms
  • atmosphere

    more general and can be temporary; culture is deeper and more lasting

  • ethos

    more formal; emphasizes the guiding beliefs and character of a group

Grammar Patterns

culture of + noun phrase

a/the + adjective + culture

Usage Note

Often paired with a modifying noun or adjective that specifies the group (corporate culture, school culture, team culture). 'Culture of + noun' is common for describing the dominant quality (culture of secrecy, culture of innovation).

Common Mistakes

The company has a very strict culture that nobody likes.
The company has a very strict culture, which nobody likes.
Use 'which' (not 'that') after a comma in a non-restrictive relative clause, or use 'that' without a comma for a restrictive clause.

3. Creative works and performances such as music, painting, drama, and books, consi

3.nounA2
Definition

Creative works and performances such as music, painting, drama, and books, considered together as a field that people enjoy and study.

Example

The city is famous for its culture, with dozens of museums, galleries, and theaters.

uncountable: its culture / arts and culture

The government provides funding to support culture and the creative industries.

Common collocations
  • arts and culture
  • culture centre
  • culture festival
  • Ministry of Culture
  • popular culture
  • contemporary culture
Synonyms
  • the arts

    more specific; refers directly to artistic activities without the broader social meaning

  • artistic expression

    more formal; emphasizes the act of creating art

Grammar Patterns

culture as a subject field

culture + noun (culture centre / culture festival)

Usage Note

Uncountable in this sense. Often paired with 'arts' in the set phrase 'the arts and culture'. Can function as a noun modifier before another noun (culture festival, culture centre).

Common Mistakes

I love culture and music.' (vague — does this mean the arts or the traditions sense?)
I am interested in French culture and music.' or 'The city offers a rich culture of music and theater.
Add context to avoid ambiguity between this sense and sense 1.

4. Living cells, bacteria, or tissues that are grown in a controlled environment fo

4.nounB2
Definition

Living cells, bacteria, or tissues that are grown in a controlled environment for medical research, food production, or other scientific work.

Example

The lab technician prepared a bacterial culture to test the effectiveness of the new drug.

countable: a bacterial culture / a cell culture

Doctors took a tissue culture from the patient's lung to check for abnormal cells.

Common collocations
  • cell culture
  • tissue culture
  • bacterial culture
  • yeast culture
  • blood culture
  • culture medium
  • culture plate
  • sterile culture
Synonyms
  • specimen

    broader — any sample taken for testing, not necessarily grown

  • sample

    less technical; can refer to any biological material taken for analysis

Grammar Patterns

a culture of + organism

cell culture / tissue culture / bacterial culture

Usage Note

Countable when referring to a specific batch or sample (a culture of E. coli). Uncountable when referring to the process or technique (culture in a petri dish).

Common Mistakes

The culture in the lab is very careful.
The cell culture in the lab is handled very carefully.
Without specifying 'cell culture' or 'bacterial culture', the reader may interpret 'culture' as sense 1 (way of life) or sense 2 (workplace atmosphere).

culture — verb

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Culture, civilization, tradition, heritage, and society all relate to how groups of people live, but they highlight different angles. Culture (noun sense 1) is the broadest — it covers the everyday customs, beliefs, and practices of a specific group. Civilization suggests a large, advanced society with cities and complex institutions (e.g., 'ancient Egyptian civilization'). Tradition focuses on specific customs passed down, such as a wedding ritual, rather than the whole way of life. Heritage emphasizes what a group inherits from the past — buildings, languages, and stories. Society refers to the structure of people living together under shared laws and institutions. For example, you could say 'Japanese culture includes tea ceremonies and respect for elders,' whereas 'Japanese tradition' would refer to the specific ceremony, 'Japanese heritage' to historical sites and crafts, and 'Japanese society' to the social and political structure.

civilization ↗tradition ↗heritage ↗society ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

  • culturally

Phrases

  • part of the culture
  • culture and society
  • culture and tradition

Prepositions

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

Culture comes from the Latin word 'cultura', which originally meant 'tilling' or 'cultivating the soil'. It is derived from 'colere' — to tend, guard, or cultivate. In the 1500s, the meaning expanded from farming to the 'cultivation' of the mind through education. By the 1800s, it took on its modern anthropological meaning — the customs and way of life of a whole society. The scientific sense (growing cells or bacteria) dates back to the late 1800s, when laboratory techniques for cultivating microorganisms were first developed.