Bacteria: The Only Culture That Some People Have

The combining form -culture, found in words such as agriculture or horticulture, comes from a Latin word meaning to raise, rear, or develop. It signifies supervised and promoted growth.

There are some interesting words fashioned from that combining form. Let’s look at a few of them.

• apiculture: raising bees
• aviculture: raising birds
• boviculture: raising cattle
• hirudiniculture: raising leeches
• ostreiculture: raising oysters
• pecudiculture: raising cattle
• pisciculture: raising fish
• pomiculture: raising fruit
• sericiculture: raising silkworms
• silviculture: raising trees
• vermiculture: raising worms
• viniculture: raising grapes
• viticulture: raising grapevines

The form is also used metaphorically, as in homiculture (developing mankind), menticulture (developing the mind), pluviculture (rainmaking), puericulture (raising children), and urbiculture (developing cities).

SIDEBAR: culture shock

SIDEBAR: Culture Club

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