cultivate - Dictionary Definition : Vocabulary.com

To cultivate is to nurture and help grow. Farmers cultivate crops, fundraising professionals cultivate donors, and celebrities cultivate their images.

When you cultivate something, you work to make it better. Originally, the word referred only to crops that required tilling, but the meaning has widened. No matter what is being cultivated, the word implies a level of care that is reminiscent of gardening. Sometime friendships come naturally and sometimes you have to cultivate them. To cultivate anything requires an attention to detail, an understanding of what is being cultivated, and a lot of patience.

PRIMARY MEANINGS OF: cultivate

1	v	adapt (a wild plant or unclaimed land) to the environment
2	v	foster the growth of
3	v	teach or refine to be discriminative in taste or judgment

FULL DEFINITIONS OF: cultivate

1

v adapt (a wild plant or unclaimed land) to the environment

Synonyms:: domesticate, naturalise, naturalize, tame

Type of:: accommodate, adapt
make fit for, or change to suit a new purpose

v prepare for crops

“cultivate the land”

Synonyms:: crop, work

: knead, work
make uniform

Types:: overcrop, overcultivate
to exhaust by excessive cultivation

Type of:: fix, gear up, prepare, ready, set, set up
make ready or suitable or equip in advance for a particular purpose or for some use, event, etc

2

v foster the growth of

Types:: show 4 types...; hide 4 types...; farm, grow, produce, raise
cultivate by growing, often involving improvements by means of agricultural techniques; carry
bear (a crop); overproduce
produce in excess; produce more than needed or wanted; keep
raise

3

v teach or refine to be discriminative in taste or judgment

“Cultivate your musical taste”

Synonyms:: civilise, civilize, educate, school, train

Types:: sophisticate
make less natural or innocent

Type of:: down, fine-tune, polish, refine
improve or perfect by pruning or polishing