Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To impress (something) upon the mind of another by frequent instruction or repetition; instill: inculcating sound principles.
- v. To teach (others) by frequent instruction or repetition; indoctrinate: inculcate the young with a sense of duty.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To impress by frequent admonitions, or by forcible statement or argument; enforce or stamp upon the mind.
- Synonyms Ingraft, Instil, etc. See implant.
Wiktionary
- v. To teach by repeated instruction.
- v. To induce understanding or a particular sentiment in a person or persons.
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. To teach and impress by frequent repetitions or admonitions; to urge on the mind.
WordNet 3.0
- v. teach and impress by frequent repetitions or admonitions
Etymologies
- Latin inculcāre, inculcāt-, to force upon : in-, on; see in-2 + calcāre, to trample (from calx, calc-, heel).
Examples
“In a roundabout way Hernández teaches upper-middle-class kids a lesson that refined mothers used to inculcate from the cradle onward: If you've got it, don't flaunt it.”
“Baqwa told Sapa the essence of the day was to "inculcate" a culture of human rights.”
“Southern Command significantly broadened the school's core curriculum around the military doctrine of counterinsurgency warfare and expanded enrollment to train -- "inculcate" is the word Gill uses more than once -- Latin American militaries in the cause of anticommunism.”
“A central purpose of the schools, as stated in the basic curriculum written by Lynd, was to inculcate values in black children that were antithetical to white middle-class life.”
“Newly-minted Information, Communications and Culture Minister, Dr Rais Yatim, has called on Malaysian bloggers to help inculcate the 1Malaysia concept, as espoused by new Prime Minister, Mr. Najib Razak.”
“Pronunciation: One of the biggest difficulties a teacher faces when teaching English as a second language is to inculcate proper pronunciation in native speakers.”
“He was unparalleled in his ability to inculcate two worlds as divergent as "church" and "state.”
The Huffington Post: Bishop T.D. Jakes: Honoring Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
“Brown returned to a theme he raised during his surprise visit to the State Board of Education in January of the importance of education not only to deliver academic excellence, but also to "inculcate character.”
The Huffington Post: Louis Freedberg: Brown Attacks Testing and Data as Measures of School Success
“Graham's comments violate the core American principle of pluralism, cited by Army spokesman Col. Tom Collins in his comments justifying the Pentagon's decision: "This Army honors all faiths and tries to inculcate our soldiers and work force with an appreciation of all faiths, and his past comments just were not appropriate for this venue.”
“Secular communities, for their part, need to inculcate a sufficient spirit of civic engagement to motivate people to give of their time and resources, and of their hearts, so that those who seek connection are not left to go bowling alone.”
The Huffington Post: Mira Sucharov: What's Being Lost In The Eternal God Debate
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘inculcate’.
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4084 more...
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Words related to knowledge
Words that relate to learning, knowing, being enlightened...
revelation, eureka, awakening, idea, sapient, astute, canny, intelligent, wise, sharp, shrewd, informed and 466 more...
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Logolepsy
"Luciferous Logolepsy is a collection of over 9,000 obscure English words. Though the definition of an 'English' word might seem to be straightforward, it is not. There exist so many adopted, deriv...
Anschauung, Areopagus, Argus, Briarean, Dei gratia, Dei judicium, Deo volente, Duecento, Foehn, Geflugelte Worte, Gegenschein, Hakenkreuz and 9230 more...
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For Summer
analogous, prestidigitation, defenestrate, crux, supercilious, sunglasses, replete, foment, anthropomorphic, iota, intrinsic, prosaic and 29 more...
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Vocab
goat rodeo, fardel, quotidian, deportment, opprobrium, deracinated, inculcate, desultory, orotund, chivvy, diktat, casuistry and 24 more...
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Neue Liste 1
accrue, antecedent, invidious, equivocate, derision, inculcate, fulcrum
qroqqa Also a surprising etymology, because of the vowel change. The Old Latin rule for unstressed vowels would give incelc- from calc-. Then the dark [l] rounds and backs and raises the vowel (as in the set velle, volo, vult). Sep 28, 2010
minivet Nice etymology: from Latin "incalcare," stamp in, press upon, itself from "calcare," tread, so ultimately from "calx," heel, and therefore possibly cousin to "caliga," boot, and to the Roman Emperor Caligula (nickname meaning "little boot"). Sep 27, 2010
reesetee There's no escaping it--WeirdNet is just...bizarre. Nov 29, 2007
john WeirdNet is silent on imbued, but weirdly normal on imbue. Nov 29, 2007
sionnach Now I'm curious what Weirdnet will say about the word imbued. Guess there's only one way to find out. Nov 29, 2007
festivemanb I read inculcate in a textbook and didn't know what it meant, but loved it anyway because it sounded like milk & honey - I walked around dropping it into sentences here and there, because yeah - it sounds like a smell of an all-day Sunday dinner, so says jimtoole. Then one day a cruel friend inculcated me into the true meaning of inculcate and I was crushed. It seriously has a discrepancy between how cool it sounds and how cool it is. Nov 29, 2007
jimtoole how can you not love this word? it is has the warmth and smell of an all day sunday dinner, but for education. Oct 29, 2007