Definition of: agriculture

(ag′rə·kul′chər) noun
1. The cultivation of the soil; the raising of food crops, breeding and raising of livestock, etc.; tillage; farming.
2. The science that treats of the cultivation of the soil.
—Department of Agriculture
An executive department of the U.S. government since 1899 (originally established 1862), headed by the Secretary of Agriculture, that acquires and distributes information on agricultural subjects and administers laws to protect the farmer and consuming public. [<F<L agricultura<ager field + cultura cultivation]
—ag′ri·cul′tur·al adjective
—ag′ri·cul′tur·al·ly adverb Synonyms: cultivation, culture, farming, floriculture, gardening, horticulture, husbandry, tillage.
Agriculture is the generic term, including the science, the art, and the process of supplying human wants by raising the products of the soil, and by the associated industries; farming is the practice of agriculture as a business. We speak of the science of agriculture, the business of farming: scientific agriculture may be wholly in books; scientific farming is practiced upon the land.