1. Term

The word “culture” (from Lat. colo, “till, cultivate, honor,” and cultura, “cultivation, training”), even in antiquity, denoted both the outer cultivating of nature and the inner cultivating of the mind and soul (cultura animi). Up to the 18th century the primary reference was to the perfecting of one’s physical, mental, and spiritual qualities.

In the 19th century another meaning was added to this more individual sense. “Culture” now came to …