Where does “multicultural” come from?
Multicultural derives from English cultural, which comes from English culture, ultimately from Latin cultura meaning "cultivation" or "tending," from the verb colo meaning "to cultivate or dwell," traced to Proto-Indo-European kʷel- meaning "to turn" or "move around."
multicultural (English): Relating or pertaining to several different...
Definitions
- Relating or pertaining to several different...
Ancestry of “multicultural”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | culture | The arts, customs, lifestyles, background, and... |
| 2 | Middle French | culture | cultivation; culture |
| 3 | Latin | cultūra | care, cultivation; agriculture, tillage, husbandry |
| 4 | Latin | cultus | tilled, cultivated, having been cultivated;... |
| 5 | Latin | colere | second-person singular future passive indicative... |
| 6 | Latin | colo | I till, cultivate the land; I inhabit; I protect,... |
| 7 | Latin | quelo | — |
| 8 | Proto-Italic | kʷelō | to inhabit |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | kʷéleti | — |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | kʷel- | to turn |