cultiver

Forms

cultiver^[1] Old French coutiver, cotiver.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French coutiver (“to worship, to till”) (1155), refashioned in learned form after Latin cultus, the past participle of colō (“to till, to honour”), from about 1119.^[2][5] The Old French verb is from Vulgar Latin *cultīvus (“tilled”), a type formed in Late Latin on that participle, after vacīvus (“empty, untilled”).^[2][5][6][7] The form cultivare of Medieval Latin (1284) is a latinization of the Old French verb.^[2][5] Bloch and Wartburg instead call the French verb a borrowing of the Medieval Latin word, which they too see as a transcription of the Old French one.^[6]

Littré compares Occitan cultivar and Italian coltivare.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Old French verb meant both “to worship (a god)” and “to work (the land)” in Wace (1155), a double meaning also seen in culture and Old French couture.^[2][5] Philippe de Thaon's Comput (about 1119) has cultiver of land to be kept and tilled.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

The verb kept the sense of working the soil for crops, with the land or the plants as its object, so that cultivé came to stand against wild.^[5] Following senses of culture, it was used for raising certain plants and animals (1869, cultiver les abeilles) and in biology for growing organisms in a nutrient medium (1880).^[5][9]

The figurative sense “to form by education”, already Latin, developed in the 16th century (1538); from it came “to devote time to, develop by practice” (1543), as in cultiver la langue (Du Bellay, 1549), and “to keep up (a friendship)”, as in cultiver une amitié (1666).^[2][5][3] The adjective cultivé “educated, cultured” has drifted furthest from the verb.^[5] In African French the verb is used absolutely for being a farmer.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 1119 – Philippe de Thaon uses cultiver of land.^[2]
• 1155 – Wace has coutiver for “worship” and “till”.^[2][5]
• 1284 – Medieval Latin cultivare is recorded, a latinization of the French verb.^[2][5]
• 1308 – The derivative cultivable appears.^[6][5]
• 1538 – Robert Estienne records the figurative sense “to form, train”.^[3][5]
• 1549 – Du Bellay writes cultiver la langue.^[2]
• 1666 – Furetière writes cultiver une amitié.^[2][5]
• 1869 – Used for raising animals such as bees.^[5][9]
• 1880 – Used in biology for growing cultures.^[5]

Meanings

Verb

1. To work the land so that it yields crops, to till: cultiver un verger.^[9][2]
2. To grow a plant (cultiver des tomates), also to raise certain animals, and in biology to grow organisms in a milieu.^[9][5]
3. (figurative) To form or develop by education: cultiver la mémoire d'un enfant.^[9][8]
4. (figurative) To devote time and care to something, an art or a science, or to tend one's image.^[9][8]
5. To keep up friendly relations with someone, often for advantage: cultiver ses relations.^[9][8]
6. Se cultiver: to improve one's mind, educate oneself.^[9]

Word family

• cultivable
• cultivateur

Related words

• culture
• culte
• inculte
• Latin colō

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
4. ^ a b Tobler, Adolf; Lommatzsch, Erhard (1925–2002), Altfranzösisches Wörterbuch, 11 vols., Berlin / Wiesbaden / Stuttgart: Weidmann / Steiner, p. 2:973
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 887a
8. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert