The word for today is…
culture (noun) – 1. (a) The arts, beliefs, customs, institutions, and other products of human work and thought considered as a unit, especially with regard to a particular time or social group.
(b) These arts, beliefs, and other products considered with respect to a particular subject or mode of expression.
(c) The set of predominating attitudes and behavior that characterize a group or organization.
- Mental refinement and sophisticated taste resulting from the appreciation of the arts and sciences.
- Special training and development.
- The cultivation of soil; tillage.
- The breeding or cultivation of animals or plants for food, the improvement of stock, or other purposes.
- (Biology)
(a) The growing of microorganisms, tissue cells, or other living matter in a specially prepared nutrient medium.
(b) Such a growth or colony, as of bacteria.
Source : The Free Dictionary
Etymology : Mid-15th century, “the tilling of land, act of preparing the earth for crops,” from Latin cultura “a cultivating, agriculture,” figuratively “care, culture, an honoring,” from past participle stem of colere “to tend, guard; to till, cultivate”. Meaning “the cultivation or rearing of a crop, act of promoting growth in plants” (1620s) was transferred to fish, oysters, etc., by 1796, then to “production of bacteria or other microorganisms in a suitable environment” (1880), then “product of such a culture” (1884).
The figurative sense of “cultivation through education, systematic improvement and refinement of the mind” is attested by circa 1500; Century Dictionary writes that it was, “Not common before the nineteenth century, except with strong consciousness of the metaphor involved, though used in Latin by Cicero.” Meaning “learning and taste, the intellectual side of civilization” is by 1805; the closely related sense of “collective customs and achievements of a people, a particular form of collective intellectual development” is by 1867.
For without culture or holiness, which are always the gift of a very few, a man may renounce wealth or any other external thing, but he cannot renounce hatred, envy, jealousy, revenge. Culture is the sanctity of the intellect. [William Butler Yeats, journal, 7 March, 1909]Slang culture vulture “one voracious for culture” is from 1947. Culture shock “disorientation experienced when a person moves to a different cultural environment or an unfamiliar way of life” is attested by 1940. Ironic or contemptuous spelling kulchur is attested from 1940 (Pound), and compare kultur.
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