cultivator

[ kuhl-tuh-vey-ter ]

noun

1. a person or thing that cultivates.
2. an implement drawn between rows of growing plants to loosen the earth and destroy weeds.

cultivator

/ ˈkʌltɪˌveɪtə /

noun

1. a farm implement equipped with shovels, blades, etc, used to break up soil and remove weeds
2. a person or thing that cultivates
3. a person who grows, tends, or improves plants or crops

Word History and Origins

Origin of cultivator¹

First recorded in 1655–65; cultivate + -or ²

Example Sentences

But they say that, to have a meaningful effect, raids need to be accompanied by policy changes that address the narrow profit margin for legal cultivators and the minor penalties for illegal ones.

From Los Angeles Times

Next to it, a smart cultivator from Stout Industrial displayed its use of AI vision and mechanical blades to remove weeds from around the crops.

From Los Angeles Times

As a visitor might quickly discover, smaller cultivators are favored over industrial-size farms here, and the county tourism commission actively courts the budding canna-tourism market.

From Los Angeles Times

But accreditation is voluntary for cultivators supplying dispensaries.

From Los Angeles Times

Traditional home cultivators have long prized citrus-heavy cannabis strains for offering users a more easeful psychological experience, resulting in many well-known methods of citric infusions through water and soil titration.

From Salon

Related Words

• grower
• laborer
• peasant
• producer
• rancher

More About Cultivator

What does cultivator mean?

A cultivator is a farming or gardening tool that breaks up soil and removes weeds in rows where plants are growing or will be grown.

It can also mean a person who grows crops. In both of these senses, a close synonym is the word tiller.

More generally, cultivator can refer to someone or something that cultivates (grows or develops things). Cultivate is commonly used literally to refer to growing crops or other plants but can also be used figuratively, such as to refer to growing an abstract thing such as a business or a friendship. A cultivator can refer to someone who develops something like this.

Example: My garden has become pretty big, so I decided to invest in a cultivator to make planting easier.

Where does cultivator come from?

The first records of the word cultivator come from around the 1660s. It ultimately grew out of the Medieval Latin word cultīvātus, which derives from the Latin verb colere, meaning “to till,” “to toil over,” “to care for,” or “to worship.” Colere is also the basis of the words cult, culture, and agriculture, among many others.

As tools, cultivators typically consist of blades or shovels (often rotating ones) that are used to break up (till) the soil. They come in a range of sizes. For a home garden, a cultivator is often a mechanical tool that can be operated by hand, though there are also electric and gas-powered cultivators. On a farm, a cultivator is often a very large farm implement that works by being pulled by a tractor.

When a person is called a cultivator, it often means they grow plants or crops. But a person who cultivates talent or businesses can also be called a cultivator.

Did you know ... ?

What are some other forms related to cultivator?

• cultivate (verb)

What are some synonyms for cultivator?

• tiller

What are some words that share a root or word element with cultivator? 

 

• agriculture
• cultivar
• culture
• cult

What are some words that often get used in discussing cultivator?

 

• till
• soil
• crop
• harvest
• plant
• farm
• tool
• implement

How is cultivator used in real life?

The word cultivator is most commonly used in the context of agriculture.

Getting our green pea oat Intercrop interrow cultivated on 10” spacing last weekend with our Hatzenbichler camera guided cultivator. Looked decent despite the recent mega rainstorm and hail. pic.twitter.com/mzLnfjqAFf

— RegenAgSolutions inc.//Alex Boersch (@RegenAgSolutio1) June 1, 2020

Trying out my new cultivator today. Pulled all the cinderblocks that had lined the old veggie beds & now I'm turning over the soil inside. Hubs wants to do a keyhole garden. Gotta start somewhere.

— Exposition🦋Emporium (@lil_kyloren) June 13, 2020

I believe that I am a cultivator of talent , an incubator of creativity….and i can connect people and situations

— Gianni Lee (@giannilee) December 12, 2010

 

 

Try using cultivator!

True or False? 

The word cultivator always refers to a farm tool.