Etymograph

English

cultural

Cultural is culture + -al; culture comes from Latin cultūra ‘cultivation’, from colō ‘to till’, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kʷelh₁- ‘to turn’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kʷelh₁-1‘to turn’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kʷélh₁eti1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kʷelō1‘to inhabit’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcolō1‘to cultivate the land’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcultūra1‘care’
  6. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600culture1
  7. English1500–presentculture1
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1978cultural1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English cultural
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1978, 1976, Leszek Kołakowski: “However, and this was an important point in Gramsci's…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kʷelh₁-Wiktionary, English cultural‘to turn’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kʷélh₁etiWiktionary, English culturalreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kʷelōWiktionary, English cultural‘to inhabit’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcolōWiktionary, English cultural‘to cultivate the land’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcultūraWiktionary, English cultural‘care’
  6. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600cultureWiktionary, English cultural
  7. English1500–presentcultureWiktionary, English cultural
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1978culturalWiktionary, English cultural. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1978, 1976, Leszek Kołakowski: “However, and this was an important point in Gramsci's…”

Linked words

through Latin colō ‘to cultivate the land, till, tend, take care…’

colony, cultivation, cultivate, coulee, 67 more

through Latin cultūra ‘care, cultivation’

agriculture, kultur, 60 more

through English culture

aquaculture, subculture, monoculture, 57 more

Today it means

adj Pertaining to culture.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “cultural”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *kʷelh₁- / cultural

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