What does culturist mean?
A culturist is a person who champions the deliberate cultivation of the mind — someone devoted to art, literature, learning, and the refining of taste, and who believes these pursuits elevate individuals and society alike. The word carries a distinctly cultured, somewhat formal flavor, evoking an era when self-improvement through high culture was seen as almost a moral duty. A secondary, now largely historical sense belongs to sociology: in the early twentieth century, 'culturists' were those who argued that human character and social differences arise from culture and environment rather than heredity, standing opposite hereditarian thinkers in the emerging nature-versus-nurture debate. Though rare in everyday speech, the word remains useful precisely because of this dual heritage — it can describe both a lover of the arts and a proponent of environmental explanations of behavior. Derived from 'culture', itself rooted in the Latin colere, to till or cultivate, 'culturist' literally frames mental improvement as a kind of gardening of the soul.
A person who advocates the cultivation of the mind through art, learning, and refinement of taste.
"The salon was hosted by a noted culturist who gathered painters, poets, and philosophers each week."
This is the dominant sense; the word often carries a mildly formal or affectionately old-fashioned tone.
An adherent of the doctrine that human behavior and social differences are shaped primarily by culture rather than by heredity.
"Writing in the 1920s, she defended the culturist position against the rising hereditarians of her day."
Largely historical; found mainly in accounts of the early twentieth-century nature–nurture debate.
Standard regular plural; used when referring to multiple advocates of culture or holders of the culturist position.
"The Victorian culturists believed that great art could transform ordinary lives."
Before the nature-versus-nurture debate had a name, early twentieth-century thinkers called one side of it 'culturism' — and its champions were known as culturists.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of culturist
Culturist derives from 'culture', which entered English from French and ultimately traces back to Latin 'colere', meaning to till, inhabit, or cultivate. The word applies the agricultural metaphor of cultivating soil to the tending of the human mind, a metaphor popularized in the nineteenth century by writers such as Matthew Arnold, whose 'Culture and Anarchy' championed the pursuit of perfection through 'the best which has been thought and said'. The related term 'culturism' emerged in academic circles in the early twentieth century to describe the doctrine that cultural forces shape human behavior, giving rise to the word's sociological sense. Cognate forms include 'culture', 'cultivate', and 'cult', all descending from the same Latin root.
Related word forms
How culturist is actually used
The word is uncommon today and carries a slightly formal, even old-fashioned register. Its second sense — belief in the primacy of cultural over biological causes — appears mainly in historical or academic discussions of the early twentieth-century nature–nurture debate.
Easily confused with culturist
A cultist is a devoted member of a religious sect or cult, whereas a culturist is an advocate of intellectual and artistic cultivation.
A culturalist holds the theory that human behavior is determined by culture rather than biology; 'culturist' can carry this same meaning but more broadly refers to any champion of culture and refinement.