culte (French)
Where does "culte" come from?
The French word 'culte' traces its roots back to the Latin 'cultus,' the past participle of 'colō,' which originally meant to till or cultivate the land. Over time, this concept of tending to the fields expanded to include the act of tending to the gods, shifting from a literal agricultural meaning to one of religious veneration.
Full etymology tree
- culte (French), 'religion'
- borrowed cultus (Latin), 'tilled, cultivated, having been cultivated'
- inherited colō (Latin), 'to cultivate the land, till, tend, take care of a field or garden'
- inherited *kʷelō (Proto-Italic), 'to inhabit'
- inherited *kʷelh₁- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to turn (end-over-end)'
- inherited *kʷelō (Proto-Italic), 'to inhabit'
- inherited colō (Latin), 'to cultivate the land, till, tend, take care of a field or garden'
- borrowed cultus (Latin), 'tilled, cultivated, having been cultivated'
Ancestors
- cultus (Latin)
Descendants and derived words
- cult (English)
- cult (English)
- culte de la personnalité (French)
- cultuel (French)
- liberté de culte (French)
- lieu de culte (French)
- cult (Romanian)
- kült (Turkish)
- kült (Turkish)
Updated May 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris