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Origin of culture

Culture (Latin: cultura, lit. "cultivation") is a modern concept based on a term first used in
classical antiquity by the Roman orator, Cicero: "cultura animi. " The term "culture" appeared
first in its current sense in Europe in the 18th and 19th centuries, to connote a process of
cultivation or improvement, as in agriculture or horticulture. In the 19th century, the term
developed to refer first to the betterment or refinement of the individual, especially through
education, and then to the fulfillment of national aspirations or ideals. In the mid-19 th century,
some scientists used the term "culture" to refer to a universal human capacity.

In the 20th century, "culture" emerged as a central concept in anthropology, encompassing the
range of human phenomena that cannot be attributed to genetic inheritance. Specifically, the
term "culture" in American anthropology had two meanings: (1) the evolved human capacity to
classify and represent experiences with symbols, and to act imaginatively and creatively; and (2)
the distinct ways that people living in different parts of the world acted creatively and classified
or represented their experiences. Distinctions are currently made between the physical artifacts
created by a society, its so-called material culture and everything else, including the intangibles
such as language, customs, etc. that are the main referent of the term "culture. "

The origin of language, understood as the human capacity of complex symbolic communication,
and the origin of complex culture are often thought to stem from the same evolutionary process
in early man. Evolutionary anthropologist Robin I. Dunbar has proposed that language evolved
as early humans began to live in large communities that required the use of complex
communication to maintain social coherence. Language and culture then both emerged as a
means of using symbols to construct social identity and maintain coherence within a social group
too large to rely exclusively on pre-human ways of building community (for example, grooming).

However, languages, now understood as the particular set of speech norms of a particular
community, are also a part of the larger culture of the community that speak them. Humans use
language as a way of signalling identity with one cultural group and difference from others. Even
among speakers of one language, several different ways of using the language exist, and each is
used to signal affiliation with particular subgroups within a larger culture.

The word "culture" derives from a French term, which in turn derives from
the Latin "colere," which means to tend to the earth and grow, or
cultivation and nurture. "It shares its etymology with a number of other
words related to actively fostering growth," Cristina De Rossi, an
anthropologist at Barnet and Southgate College in London, told Live
Science.

Definition of society
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/society

plural

societies
1. 1 :  companionship or association with one's fellows :  friendly or intimate
intercourse :  company
2. 2 :  a voluntary association of individuals for common ends; especially :  an
organized group working together or periodically meeting because of
common interests, beliefs, or profession
3. 3a :  an enduring and cooperating social group whose members have
developed organized patterns of relationships through interaction with
one anotherb :  a community, nation, or broad grouping of people having
common traditions, institutions, and collective activities and interests
4. 4a :  a part of a community that is a unit distinguishable by particular aims
or standards of living or conduct :  a social circle or a group of social
circles having a clearly marked identity literary societyb :  a part of the
community that sets itself apart as a leisure class and that regards itself as
the arbiter of fashion and manners
5. 5a :  a natural group of plants usually of a single species or habit within an
associationb :  the progeny of a pair of insects when constituting a social
unit (such as a hive of bees); broadly :  an interdependent system of
organisms or biological units

society
http://www.dictionary.com/browse/society

[suh-sahy-i-tee] /səˈsaɪ ɪ ti/


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 Synonyms
 Examples
 Word Origin

See more synonyms on Thesaurus.com


noun, plural societies.
1.
an organized group of persons associated together for religious, benevolent, cultural, scientific,
political, patriotic, or other purposes.
2.
a body of individuals living as members of a community; community.
3.
the body of human beings generally, associated or viewed as members of a community:
the evolution of human society.
4.
a highly structured system of human organization for large-scale community living that normally
furnishes protection, continuity, security, and a national identity for its members:
American society.
5.
such a system characterized by its dominant economic class or form:
middle-class society; industrial society.
6.
those with whom one has companionship.
7.
companionship; company:
to enjoy the society of good friends.
8.
the social life of wealthy, prominent, or fashionable persons.
9.
the social class that comprises such persons.
10.
the condition of those living in companionship with others, or in a community, rather than in
isolation.
11.
Biology. a closely integrated group of social organisms of the same species exhibiting division of
labor.
12.
Ecclesiastical. ecclesiastical society.

Society
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/society
a large of people who lived together in a an organized way, making decisions about how to
do things and sharing the work that needs to be done

society

   so·ci·e·ty

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society

Society
http://www.yourdictionary.com/society

noun
1. Society is defined as a group of people living as a community or an organized group of people
for a common purpose.

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