The building blocks of English

Affixes

-culture

Also ‑cultural.

Cultivation or husbandry.

Latin cultura, growing, cultivation.

The first words in this form to appear were agriculture (Latin ager, field) and horticulture (Latin hortus, garden). On their model many other terms for the cultivation or growing of specific plants or animals have since been created. See the list below for some examples. Related adjectives are formed in ‑cultural (agricultural, horticultural).

Terms in which culture refers to a group or section within society that has certain characteristics in common (counterculture, technoculture) are usually regarded as compounds of the noun culture.

Examples of words in -culture
All word sources are from Latin, unless otherwise stated.

agriculture

farming

ager, field

apiculture

bee-keeping

apis, bee

aquaculture

aquatic animals or plants

aqua, water

arboriculture

ornamental trees

arbor, tree

aviculture

birds

avis, bird

floriculture

flowers

flos, flower

horticulture

gardening

hortus, garden

mariculture

sea fish or other marine life

mare, sea

monoculture

cultivation of only one sort of crop

Greek mono, alone or single

permaculture

development of sustainable agriculture

a blend of permanent and agriculture

sericulture

silk and silkworms

sericum, silk

silviculture

trees

silva, wood

vermiculture

earthworms

vermis, worm

viticulture

grapevines

vitis, vine