CULTIVATE, verb transitive [Latin , to till, to dwell.] 1. To till; to prepare for crops; to manure, plow, dress, sow and reap; to labor on manage and improve in husbandry; as, to cultivate land; to cultivate a farm. 2. To improve by labor or study; to advance the growth of; to refine and improve by correction of faults, and enlargement of powers or good qualities; as, to cultivate talents; to cultivate a taste for poetry. 3. To study; to labor to improve or advance; as, to cultivate philosophy; to cultivate the mind. 4. To cherish; to foster; to labor to promote and increase; as, to cultivate the love of excellence; to cultivate gracious affections. 5. To improve; to meliorate, or to labor to make better; to correct; to civilize; as, to cultivate the wild savage. 6. To raise or produce by tillage; as, to cultivate corn or grass.
Source: Webster's 1828 American Dictionary ↗ · public-domain · returned verbatim, no AI