permaculture

per·ma·cul·ture
P3E1R1M3A1C3U1L1T1U1R1E1

noun

Any system of sustainable agriculture that renews natural resources and enriches local ecosystems.

OriginEnglish agriculture ← Middle English agriculture ← Latin agricultūra →
Less commonFirst used 1978Scrabble 18
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounpermaculture (countable and uncountable, plural permacultures)

plural permacultures

  1. countableuncountableagricultureAny system of sustainable agriculture that renews natural resources and enriches local ecosystems.First known use 1978

    in a world where there are competing ends for the use of natural resources, and particularly energy forms, the aim of permaculture is to create productive systems which are ecologically sound and ecologically viable, provide for their own […]

    2007, Derek Thomas, Architecture and the Urban Environment, Routledge, →ISBN, page 178
  2. countableuncountableThe design, installation and maintenance of indefinitely sustainable human communities set in balanced ecologies, both urban and rural.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*per-
  2. Proto-Italic*peri-
  3. Latinper-
  4. Proto-Indo-European*men-
  5. Proto-Indo-European*m̥néh₁yeti
  6. Proto-Italic*m(V)nēō
  7. Latinmaneō
  8. Latinpermaneō
  9. Middle Frenchpermanent
  10. Englishpermanent
  11. Middle Frenchagriculture
  12. Proto-Indo-European*h₂eǵ-?
  13. Proto-Indo-European*h₂éǵros
  14. Proto-Italic*agros
  15. Latinager
  16. Proto-Indo-European*kʷelh₁-
  17. Proto-Indo-European*kʷélh₁eti
  18. Proto-Italic*kʷelō
  19. Latincolō
  20. Latincultūra
  21. Latinagricultūra
  22. Middle Englishagriculture
  23. Englishagriculture
  24. Englishpermaculture

Blend of permanent + agriculture, coined by Bill Mollison and David Holmgren in 1978. For a long time Bill Mollison claimed to have copyrighted the word; this was never the case, as copyright law is not applicable to single words.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Finnish permakulttuuri
  • permakulttuuriagriculture that renews natural resources and enriches local ecosystems
French permaculture
  • permacultureagriculture that renews natural resources and enriches local ecosystems
German Permakultur
  • Permakulturagriculture that renews natural resources and enriches local ecosystems
Italian permacultura
  • permaculturaagriculture that renews natural resources and enriches local ecosystems
Māori ahutoitū
  • ahutoitūagriculture that renews natural resources and enriches local ecosystems
Polish permakultura
  • permakulturaagriculture that renews natural resources and enriches local ecosystems
Portuguese permacultura
  • permaculturaagriculture that renews natural resources and enriches local ecosystems
Romanian permacultură
  • permaculturăagriculture that renews natural resources and enriches local ecosystems
Swedish permakultur
  • permakulturagriculture that renews natural resources and enriches local ecosystems
Turkish permakültür
  • permakültüragriculture that renews natural resources and enriches local ecosystems
Welsh paramaethu
  • paramaethuagriculture that renews natural resources and enriches local ecosystems
Cite this entry
APA

permaculture. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/permaculture

MLA

“permaculture.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/permaculture. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “permaculture,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/permaculture.

Source: permaculture on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.