cultus

English

Etymology

Latin cultus (“cultivation, culture”). See cult.

Noun

cultus (plural cultuses)

1. Established or accepted religious rites or customs of worship; state of religious development.

See also

• cultus cod

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for “cultus”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)

---

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkʏl.tʏs/

• Audio:

  (file)

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin cultus.

Noun

cultus m (plural cultussen, diminutive cultusje n)

1. (religion) cult, a particular tradition of worship or veneration of deities, ancestors, guardians or saints

Usage notes

• For the pejorative sense of cult (“socially marginal, proscribed or deviant religious group”), see sekte.

Derived terms

• cultusplaats

---

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈkul.tus/, [ˈkʊɫ̪t̪ʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈkul.tus/, [ˈkul̪t̪us]

Etymology 1

Perfect passive participle of colō (“till, cultivate; worship”).

Participle

cultus (feminine culta, neuter cultum, comparative cultior, superlative cultissimus); first/second-declension participle

1. tilled, cultivated, having been cultivated
2. protected, nurtured, having been protected
3. (figuratively) worshipped, honored, having been worshipped
4. (figuratively) dressed, clothed, adorned, having been adorned

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

Number	Singular				Plural
Case / Gender	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter		Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	cultus	culta	cultum		cultī	cultae	culta
Genitive	cultī	cultae	cultī		cultōrum	cultārum	cultōrum
Dative	cultō		cultō		cultīs
Accusative	cultum	cultam	cultum		cultōs	cultās	culta
Ablative	cultō	cultā	cultō		cultīs
Vocative	culte	culta	cultum		cultī	cultae	culta

Descendants

• Italian: colto
• Spanish: culto
• German: Kultur

Etymology 2

(deprecated template usage)

Noun

cultus m (genitive cultūs); fourth declension

1. The act of tilling or cultivating.
2. The act of honoring or worshipping, reverence, adoration, veneration; loyalty
3. A religious group, cult, sect.
4. Care directed to the refinement of life, cultural pursuit, civilization, culture, style; elegance, polish, refinement.
5. Style of dress, external appearance, clothing, attire; ornament, decoration, splendor.
6. (rare) The act of laboring at, labor, care, cultivation, culture.
7. (rare) Training, education, culture.

Declension

Fourth-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	cultus	cultūs
Genitive	cultūs	cultuum
Dative	cultuī	cultibus
Accusative	cultum	cultūs
Ablative	cultū	cultibus
Vocative	cultus	cultūs

Related terms

• agricola
• colō
• colōna
• colōnia
• colōnicus
• colōniārius
• colōnus
• colōnārius
• colōnātus
• culta
• cultiō
• cultor
• cultē
• cultūra

 

Descendants

• Asturian: cuchu
• English: cult
• French: culte
• Galician: cuito
• Italian: culto

• Portuguese: culto
• Romanian: cult
• Russian: культ (kulʹt)
• Spanish: cucho, culto

References

• “cultus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “cultus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• cultus in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• cultus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • mental culture: animi, ingenii cultus (not cultura)
    
  • to be quite uncivilised: omnis cultus et humanitatis expertem esse
    
  • to be quite uncivilised: ab omni cultu et humanitate longe abesse (B. G. 1. 1. 3)
    
  • worship of the gods; divine service: cultus dei, deorum (N. D. 2. 3. 8)
    
  • (ambiguous) to civilise men, a nation: homines, gentem a fera agrestique vita ad humanum cultum civilemque deducere (De Or. 1. 8. 33)