Meanings
comparative more bicultural · superlative most bicultural
- Adapted to two separate cultures.
[W]ithout English, I would not be how I am: a bilingual and bicultural person at home in both English and Japanese.
2003, Yasuko Kanno, “Preface”, in Negotiating Bilingual and Bicultural Identities: Japanese Returnees betwixt Two Worlds, Mahwah, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, published 2009, →DOI, →ISBN1 more example
Also as unfortunate are the overt and covert deficit notions held by teachers and administrators towards bicultural students; deficit notions, extended, by assocation, to bicultural parents. These misguided notions are propagated, for the most part, devoid of any systematic analysis that directly implicates the oppressive social, economic, political, cultural and linguistic forces that structurally shape and perpetuate the exclusion, exploitation, and domination of bicultural communities.
2006, Antonia Darder, “Foreword”, in Edward M. Olivos, The Power of Parents: A Critical Perspective of Bicultural Parent Involvement in Public Schools (Counterpoints; 290), New York, N.Y.; Washington, D.C.: Peter Lang, →ISBN, →ISSN, page xi
plural biculturals
- A person belonging to two cultures.
Compared with ethnic affirmers, biculturals are better educated; have higher incomes, socioeconomic status, and self-esteem; and are more involved in local social networks.
2013 October, Nirmalya Kumar, Jan-Benedict Steenkamp, “Diaspora Marketing”, in Harvard Business Review, Brighton: Harvard Business Publishing, →ISSN, archived from the original on 13 Dec 20222 more examples
Persons without a migratory background may also have a transcultural identity—and not everybody who is confronted with at least two cultures is automatically supposed to have a transcultural identity[…]. Thus, biculturals do not necessarily have a transcultural identity.
2015 August 29, Miriam A. Knauss, Kristina Günther, Sophie Belardi, Pauline Morley, Ulrike von Lersner, “The Impact of Perceived Ethnic Discrimination on Mental Health Depends on Transcultural Identity: Evidence for a Moderator Effect”, in BMC Psychology, volume 3, number 1, London: BioMed Central, →DOI, →ISSN, →OCLC, →PMID, article no. 30, page 3, column 1With every win, coach Regragui dreams louder and louder of actually becoming World Champion, and urges all Moroccans, biculturals and binationals across the world to openly do the same.
2022 December 12, Maïthé Chini, “Belgium in Brief: A reflection of raw Moroccan reality”, in The Brussels Times, Brussels: BXL Connect, →ISSN, archived from the original on 21 Dec 2022
Origin
PIE word *dwóh₁ Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁ Proto-Indo-European *dwi- Proto-Italic *dwi- Latin bi-bor. English bi- Proto-Indo-European *kʷelh₁- Proto-Indo-European *-eti Proto-Indo-European *kʷélh₁eti Proto-Italic *kʷelō Latin colō Proto-Indo-European *-tew-? Proto-Indo-European *-r-eh₂? Latin -tūra Latin cultūrader. Middle French cultureder. English culture Proto-Indo-European *h₂el- Proto-Indo-European *-is Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.? Proto-Italic *-ālis Latin -ālislbor. Old French -albor. ▲ Latin -ālis Old French -elbor. ▲ Latin -ālisbor. Middle English -al English -al English bicultural The adjective is derived from bi- (prefix meaning ‘two’) + culture + -al. The noun is derived from the adjective.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Chinese Mandarin 雙文化的 /双文化的, 雙文化者 /双文化者
- 雙文化的 /双文化的 (shuāngwénhuà de)adapted to two separate cultures
- 雙文化者 /双文化者 (shuāngwénhuàzhě)person belonging to two cultures
Dutch bicultureel, bicultureel
- bicultureeladapted to two separate cultures
- bicultureelperson belonging to two cultures
Finnish kaksikulttuurinen, kaksikulttuurinen henkilö
- kaksikulttuurinenadapted to two separate cultures
- kaksikulttuurinen henkilöperson belonging to two cultures
French biculturel, biculturel
- bicultureladapted to two separate cultures
- biculturelperson belonging to two cultures
- biculturelleperson belonging to two cultures
Greek αμφιπολιτισμικός
- αμφιπολιτισμικός (amfipolitismikós)adapted to two separate cultures
Italian biculturale
- biculturaleadapted to two separate cultures
Romanian bicultural
- biculturaladapted to two separate cultures
Cite this entry
bicultural. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bicultural
“bicultural.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bicultural. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “bicultural,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bicultural.
Source: bicultural on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.