Meanings
plural acculturations
- countableuncountableA process by which the culture of a society changes on contact with a different one.
It would be difficult to designate the Ghost Dance of the Indians of North America, for instance, as anything but a phenomenon of acculturation; […].
1958, Melville J. Herskovits, Acculturation, Peter Smith, page 121 more example
The cultural complex shows such power of survival mainly because its practitioners know how to adapt to modernization, including Western medicine, just as their ancestors knew how to adapt their careers and art to acculturation processes during the Conquest and subsequent eras.
1979, Johannes Wilbert, editor, Enculturation in Latin America, University of California, page 18
Synonyms & antonyms
nounthe adoption of the behavior patterns of the surrounding culture
nounall the knowledge and values shared by a society
nounthe process of assimilating new ideas into an existing cognitive structure
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
First attested in 1880; ad- (“toward”) + culture + -ation (“a process”).
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Catalan aculturació, aculturació
- aculturacióprocess by which a person acquires the culture
- aculturacióprocess by which the culture of an isolated society changes
Chinese Mandarin 涵化, 涵化
- 涵化 (hánhuà)process by which a person acquires the culture
- 涵化 (hánhuà)process by which the culture of an isolated society changes
Finnish akkulturaatio, akkulturaatio
- akkulturaatioprocess by which a person acquires the culture
- akkulturaatioprocess by which the culture of an isolated society changes
German Akkulturation
- Akkulturationprocess by which a person acquires the culture
Greek επιπολιτισμός
- επιπολιτισμός (epipolitismós)process by which the culture of an isolated society changes
Indonesian akulturasi, akulturasi
- akulturasiprocess by which a person acquires the culture
- akulturasiprocess by which the culture of an isolated society changes
Malay akulturasi, akulturasi
- akulturasiprocess by which a person acquires the culture
- akulturasiprocess by which the culture of an isolated society changes
Polish akulturacja, akulturacja
- akulturacjaprocess by which a person acquires the culture
- akulturacjaprocess by which the culture of an isolated society changes
Portuguese aculturação
- aculturaçãoprocess by which the culture of an isolated society changes
Spanish aculturación
- aculturaciónprocess by which the culture of an isolated society changes
Vietnamese tiếp biến văn hóa
- tiếp biến văn hóaprocess by which the culture of an isolated society changes
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with acculturation
Cite this entry
acculturation. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/acculturation
“acculturation.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/acculturation. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “acculturation,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/acculturation.
Source: acculturation on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.