agriculture

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ˈæɡ.rɪ.kʌl.tʃə/, US /ˈæɡ.rɪ.kʌl.tʃɚ/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin agricultūra (“cultivation of land”),^[2][3][4] probably influenced by French agriculture,^[3][5] from the Latin phrase agrī cultūra, from agrī, the genitive of ager (“field”) (see acre), and cultūra (“cultivation”) (see culture).^[2][3][4] The i of the compound follows Latin agricola “farmer”.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tillage or cultivation, about 1440 in a Middle English translation of Palladius on husbandry, where Etymonline says the first use is figurative, of God.^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

The science and practice of farming is from about 1600, 1603 in the OED.^[2][6] Agricultural and agriculturist are from the 18th century and agriculturalist from the 19th.^[5] Old English had expressed the idea with eorðtilþ, and Middle English with lond-tilling and husbonding.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1440 – tillage.^[3]
• 1603 – the science of farming.^[6]
• 18th century – agricultural.^[5]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The science, practice and business of farming: growing crops and raising livestock.

Word family

• agricultural
• agriculturally
• agribusiness
• permaculture
• preagriculture

Related words

• agri-
• agriculturist
• agro-
• acre
• culture
• agrarian
• agronomy
• cultivate

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press