culmen 
great many birds, especially those with depressed bill ;IK 
Fill the dn.'ks.tlierc is really n rulwrn; but then theme- 
dian lengthwise lined' tile Kill-face uf the upper nialldlllle 
takes the place and name of culuien. 
Coues, Key to N. A. Birds, p. 104. 
3 [NL.] In anat., the upper and anterior por- 
tion of the monticulus of the vermis superior of 
the cerebellum. Also called cacumcu. 
culmicolous (kul-mik'o-lus), a. [< L. culmus, 
a stalk, culm (see onto 2 ), + colere, inhabit.] 
Growing upon culms of grasses: said of some 
culmferous 1 (kul-mif 'e-rus), a. [< E. culm'i + 
L./6-m;, = E. 'bear\ + -CMS.] Containing culm. 
See culmi. 
culmiferous 2 (kul-mif'e-rus), a, [= F. culmi- 
ferc = Sp. eulmifcro = Pg. It. culmifero, < L,. 
culniun, a stalk (see culnft), + ferre = E. bear*.] 
Bearing culms, as grasses. See culm 2 . 
culminal (kul'mi-nal), a. [< L. culmen (cul- 
min-) + -al.] Of or pertaining to the culmen 
or summit; uppermost; apical. 
culminant (kul'mi-nant), a. [< ML. culmt- 
ii(in(t-)s, ppr. of culminare: see culminate, v.] 
Culminating; reaching the highest point. 
I did spy 
Sun, moon, and stars, by th' painter's art appear, 
At once all culm'nant in one hemisphere. 
A. Brume, To his Mistress. 
culminate (kul'mi-nat), v. i. ; pret. and pp. cul- 
minated, ppr. culminating, [< ML. culminatus, 
pp. of culminare (> It. culminare = Sp. Pg. cul- 
minar = P. culminer, > D. kulmineren = G. cul- 
miniren = Dan. kulminerc), < L. culmen (culmin-) 
(> It. culmine = Sp. culmen = Pg. culme), the 
highest point, older form coliimen, > ult. E. 
column, q. v.] 1. To come to or be on the 
meridian; be in the highest point of altitude, 
as a star, or, according to the usage of astrono- 
mers, reach either the highest or the lowest 
altitude. 
As when his beams at noon 
Culminate from the equator. 
Hilton, P. L., 111. 617. 
The regal star, then culminating, was the sun. 
Dryden, Vind. of Duke of Guise. 
The star of Guise, brilliant with the conquest of Calais, 
now culminated to the zenith. 
Motley, Dutch Republic, I. 190. 
2. To reach the highest point, apex, or summit, 
literally or figuratively. 
The mountains forming this cape culminate in a grand 
conical peak. B. Taylor, Lands of the Saracen, p. 189. 
Both records [the biblical and the scientific] give us a 
grand procession of dynasties of life, beginning from the 
lower forms and culminating in man. 
Damon, Nature and the Bible, p. 119. 
culminate (kul'mi-nat), a. [< ML. culminate, 
pp.: see the verb.] Growing upward, as dis- 
tinguished from a lateral growth: applied to 
the growth of corals. Dana. 
culminating (kul'mi-na-ting), p. a. [Ppr. of 
culminate, v.] 1. Being at or crossing the 
meridian ; being at its highest elevation, as a 
planet. 2. Being at its highest point, as of 
rank, power, magnitude, numbers, or quality. 
This Madonna, with the sculpture round her, represents 
the culminating power of Gothic art in the thirteenth 
century. Riukin. 
Beauty is, even in the beautiful, occasional or, as one 
has said, culminating and perfect only a single moment, 
before which it is unripe, and after which it is on the wane. 
Emerson, Domestic Life. 
Culminating cycle. See cycle. 
culmination (kul-mi-na'shon), n. [= F. culmi- 
nation (> D. kulminatie = G" culmination = Dan. 
Jculmination)=: Sp. culminacion = Pg. culmina- 
qSo = It. culminazionc, < ML. *culmmatio(n-), < 
culminare, pp. culminatus : see culminate, v.] 1. 
The position of a heavenly body when it is on 
the meridian; the attainment by a star of its 
highest or lowest altitude on any day. 2. The 
highest point or summit ; the top ; the act or fact 
of reaching the highest point : used especially 
in figurative senses. 
We . . . wonder how that which in its putting forth 
was a flower should in its growth and culmination become 
a thistle. Farindon, Sermons, p. 429. 
Lower or upper culmlnatlpn, the attainment by a 
star of its lowest or highest altitude on any day. 
culminicorn (kul-min'i-k6rn), . [< L. culmen 
(culmin-), top, + corw = E. horn. Coues, 1866.] 
In ornith., the superior one of the horny pieces 
into which the sheath of the bill of some birds, 
as albatrosses, is divided ; the piece which in- 
cases the culmen of the bill. 
1392 
cal opening of the Minie" and other early pro- 
jectiles. Farrow, Mil. Encyc. 2. In decorative 
art, a rounded form, like a calyx or the sheaf 
of a bud from which issue scrolls or the like. 
CUlottic (ku-lot'ik), a. [< F. culotte, breeches, 
+ -(c. Cf. sansculottic] Having or wearing 
breeches; hence, pertaining to the respect- 
able classes of society : opposed to sansculottic. 
[Rare.] 
Young Patriotism, Culottic and Sansculottic, rushes for- 
war( i. Carlyle, French Rev., II. vi. 3. 
culottism (ku-lot'izm), n. [As culott-ic + -ism.] 
The principles or influence of the more respect- 
able classes of society. See sansculottism. 
He who in these epochs of our Europe founds on garni- 
tures formulas, cutoUimu <>t what sort soever, is founding 
on old cloth and sheepskin, and cannot endure. 
Carlyle, French Rev., III. vn. 1. 
culpability (kul-pa-bil'i-ti), . [= F. culpaM- 
lite = Sp. culpabilidad = Pg. culpabthdaae, < L. 
as if *culpal)ilita(t-}s, < culpabilis: see culpable.] 
The state of being culpable or censurable; 
blamableness. 
culpable (kul'pa-bl). a. and n. [< ME. culpable, 
coulpaUe, coupable, < OF. culpable, colpable, cou- 
pable, F. coupable = Pr. colpable = Sp. culpable 
= Pg. culpavel = It. colpabile, < L. culpabilis, 
blameworthy, < culpare, blame, condemn, < cul- 
pa, fault, crime, mistake. See culpe.] I. a. 1. 
Deserving censure; blamable; blameworthy: 
said of persons or their conduct. 
That he had given way to most culpable indulgences, I 
had before heard hinted. 
Barham, Ingoldsby Legends, I. 181. 
A permission voluntarily given for a bad act is culpable, 
as well as its actual performance. 
Mivart, Nature and Thought, p. 243. 
2f. Guilty. 
These being perhaps culpable of this crime. 
Spenser, State of Ireland. 
The Mayor of London sat in Judgment upon Offenders, 
where manv were found culpable, and lost their Heads. 
Baiter, Chronicles, p. 139. 
Culpable homicide. See homicide. = 8yn. 1. Censura- 
ble, reprehensible, wrong, sinful. 
Il.t n. A culprit. North. 
culpableness (kul'pa-bl-nes), n. Blamable- 
ness ; culpability. 
culpably (kul'pa-bli), adv. Blamably; in a 
manner to merit censure ; reprehensibly. 
CUlpatory (kul'pa-to-ri), a. [< L. culpatus, pp. 
of culpare, blame"(see culpable}, + -ory.] Incul- 
patory; censuring; reprehensory 
cultivate 
tion for a particular person or thing : as, the 
Shaksperian cult. 
Every man is convinced of the reality of a better self, 
and of the cult or homage which is due to it. 
ry, Advice to an Author, iii. 1. 
2. A system of religious belief and worship; 
especially, the rites and ceremonies employed 
in worship. Also cultm. 
Cult is a term which, as we value exactness, we can ill 
do without, seeing how completely religion has lost its 
original signification. f. Hall, Mod. Eng., p. 172. 
3. A subject of devoted attention or study; 
that in which one is earnestly or absorbingly 
interested. 
cultch (kulch), n. [Cf. culclt.] The materials 
used to form a spawning-bed for oysters; also, 
the spawn of the oyster. 
cultelt (kul'tel), n. [OF. cultel, < L. cnltellus, 
dim. of miter, a knife: see colter and cutlas.] 
' 
Adjectives . . . commonly used by Latin authors in a 
culpatory sense. 
Walpole, Catalogue of Engravers, Postscript. 
culpet, [ME., < OF. culpe, colpe, coupe, F. 
coulpe = Pr. It. colpa = Sp. Pg. ciilpa, < L. 
culpa, fault, error, crime, etc.: see culpable.] 
A fault; guilt. Chaucer. 
To deprive a man, beyng banished out of the realme 
without deserte, without culpe, and without cause, of his 
inheritance and patrimony. Hall, Hen. IV., fol. 4. 
The culminicorn is transversely broad and rounded. 
Coues, Proc. Phila. Acad., 1866, p. 175. 
culmy (kul'mi), a. and n. Same as colmy. 
culot (ku'16), n. [F., < cul, < L. culus, posteriors, 
bottom.] 1. An iron cup inserted in the coni- 
culpont, . [< ME. culpe, a fragment, chip, also 
culpown, culpen, < OF.'colpon, coupon (F. coupon, 
> mod. E. coupon, q. v.), < couper, cut : see coup 1 .] 
1. Something cut off ; apiece; shred; clipping. 
Ful thinne it [hair] lay, by culpons on and oon. 
Chaucer, Gen. Prol. to C. T., 1. 679. 
2. Something split off ; a splinter. 
To hakke and hewe 
The okes olde, and leye hem on a rewe 
In culpons wel arrayed for to brenne. 
Chaucer, Knight's Tale, 1. 2009. 
culpont, * [< eulpon, n.] To cut up; split, 
culprit (kul'prit), n. [Prob. (with intrusive 
r) for "culpat, < L. culpatus (law Lat. for 'the 
accused'), pp. of culpare, blame, censure, re- 
prove : see culpable.] 1. A person arraigned 
for a crime or offense. 
An author is in the condition of a culprit ; the publick are 
his judges. Prior, Solomon, Pref. 
Neither the culprit nor his advocates attracted so much 
notice as the accusers. Jlacaulay. 
2. A criminal; a malefactor; an offender. 
The culprit by escape grown bold 
Pilfers alike from young and old. Moore. 
culrage (kul'raj), . [Early mod. E. also cule- 
rage, killridge; < ME. culrage, culraige, culrayge, 
culrache, ciilratche, < OF. mirage, curage, F. 
curage, < cul (< L. culus), the posteriors, + 
rage, < L. rabies, madness, rage ; equiv. to the 
E. name arse-smart.] The water-pepper or 
smartweed, Polygonum Hydropiper. 
cult (kult), n. [< F. culte = Sp. Pg. It. culto, < 
L. cultus, cultivation, worship, < colere, pp. cul- 
tus, till, cultivate, worship. Cf. cultivate, cul- 
ture, etc., colony, etc.] 1. Homage; worship; 
by extension, devoted attention to or venera- 
A long knife carried by a knight's attendant. 
cultellarius (kul-te-la'ri-us), . ; pi. cultellarii 
(-1). [ML., < L. cnltellus, a knife: see cultel.] 
1. In the middle ages, an irregular soldier 
whose principal weapon was a heavy knife or 
short sword. Cultellarii were often attendants ujioii 
a knight, and followed him to battle. See couteau. Also 
formerly custrel. 
2. A bandit or outlaw. 
cultellation (kul-te-la'shon), n. [< L. cultel- 
lus, a knife, + -ation.] The determination of 
the exact point on the ground vertically beneath 
a point at some height above it, by letting fall 
a knife or other pointed object; also, the use 
of this method in measuring land on a hillside 
so as to obtain the measures projected upon a 
horizontal plane. 
cultellus (kul-tel'us), .; pi. cultelli (-1). [L., 
a knife : see cultel.] In entom., one of the lan- 
cet-like mandibles of a mosquito or predatory 
fly. 
CUlter (kul'ter), n. Same as colter. 
cultirostral (kul-ti-ras'tral), a. An erroneous 
form of cultrirostral. 
Cultirostres (kul-ti-ros'trez), n. pi. An errone- 
ous form of Cultrirostres. 
cultism (kul'tizm), n. [< cult + -ism.] The 
pedantic style of composition affected by the 
cultists. 
The cultism of G6ngora, the artifice of which lies solely 
in the choice and arrangement of words. 
Encyc. Brit., XXII. 360. 
cultist (kul'tist), . [< cult + -4st; equiv. to 
Sp. cultero. culterano, an affected purist.] One 
of a school of Spanish poets who imitated the 
pedantic affectation and labored elegance of 
G6ngora y Argote, a Spanish writer (1561-1627). 
A century earlier the school of the cultists had estab- 
lished a dominion, ephemeral, as it soon appeared, but 
absolute while it lasted. Lowell, Study Windows, p. 391. 
cultivable (kul'ti-va-bl), a. [= F. cultivable = 
Sp. cultivable = Pg" cultivavel = It. coltivabile, 
< ML. as if "cultivabilis, < cultivare, till : see cul- 
tivate.] Capable of being tilled or cultivated; 
capable of improvement or refinement. 
The soils of cultivable lands hold in a greater or less pro- 
portiou all that is essential to the growth of plants. 
J. R. Nichols, Fireside Science, p. 131. 
The descendant of a cultivated race has an enhanced 
aptitude for the reception of cultivation ; he is more cul- 
tivable. Whitney, Encyc. Brit., XVIII. 766. 
cultivatable (kul'ti-va-ta-bl), a. [< cultivate + 
-able.] Cultivable. 
Large tracts of rich culticatable soil. 
British and Foreign Ret., No. ii., p. 265. 
cultivate (kul'ti-vat), v. t. ; pret. and pp. culti- 
vated, ppr. cultivating. [< ML. cultivates, pp. of 
cultivare (> It. cultivare, coltivare = Sp. Pg. cul- 
tivar= OF. cultiver, coltiver, coutiver, curtiver, 
etc., F. cultiver), till, work, as land, < ciiltivus, 
tilled, under tillage, < L. cultus, pp. of colere, 
till: see cult.] 1. To till; prepare for crops; 
manure, plow, dress, sow; and reap; manage 
and improve in husbandry : as, to cultivate land ; 
to cultivate a farm. 
I have had a large, a fair, and a pleasant field ; so fer- 
tile that, without my cultieatiny, it has given me two 
harvests in a summer. Dryden, To Sir R. Howard. 
2. To raise or produce by tillage : as, to cultivate 
corn or grass. 3. To use a cultivator upon; 
run a cultivator through : as, to cultivate a field 
of standing corn. See cultivator (c). [U. S.] 
4. To improve and strengthen by labor or 
study: promote the development or increase of; 
cherish; foster: as, to cultivate talents; to cul- 
tivate a taste for poetry. 
As your commissioners our poets go, 
To cultivate the virtue which you sow. 
Dryden, University of Oxford, Prol., 1. 13, 
