Meanings
plural enculturations
- countableuncountableThe process by which a person adopts the behaviour patterns of the culture in which they are immersed (or born).
1 more example
More specifically, enculturation is the process by which the individual through informal and nonformal modes of cultural transmission learns the language, the technological, socioeconomic, ideational, as well as the cognitive and emotional patterns of culture. It is a lifelong learning process that lasts from an individual’s infancy to adulthood and “which can be said to end only with his death” (ibid., p. 40).
1979, Johannes Wilbert, editor, Enculturation in Latin America, University of California, page 8
Synonyms & antonyms
nounthe adoption of the behavior patterns of the surrounding culture
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*h₁én
- Proto-Italic*en
- Proto-Italic*en-
- Latinin-
- Old Frenchen-
- Middle Englishen-
- Englishen-
- Proto-Indo-European*kʷelh₁-
- Proto-Indo-European*kʷélh₁eti
- Proto-Italic*kʷelō
- Latincolō
- Latincultūra
- Middle Frenchculture
- Englishculture
- Englishenculturation
Cite this entry
enculturation. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/enculturation
“enculturation.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/enculturation. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “enculturation,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/enculturation.
Source: enculturation on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.