inculcate

English

WOTD – 14 July 2009

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin inculcātus, perfect passive participle of inculcō (“impress upon, force upon”), from in + calcō (“tread upon, trample”), from calx (“heel”).

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈɪn.kʌl.keɪt/
• (UK) IPA^(key): /ɪnˈkʌl.keɪt/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Verb

inculcate (third-person singular simple present inculcates, present participle inculcating, simple past and past participle inculcated)

1. (transitive) To teach by repeated instruction.

   Synonyms: instill, ingrain

   • 1820, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Oedipus Tyrannus; Or, Swellfoot The Tyrant: A Tragedy in Two Acts:

     Those impious Pigs,
     Who, by frequent squeaks, have dared impugn
     The settled Swellfoot system, or to make
     Irreverent mockery of the genuflexions
     Inculcated by the arch-priest, have been whipt
     Into a loyal and an orthodox whine.

   • 1838 (date written), L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “(please specify the page)”, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], published 1842, →OCLC, pages 55–56:

     she had a perfect Parisian accent, was musical—all French women sing—had a great deal of tournure, the value of which she was always inculcating on her pupils: "La Grace plus belle que la beauté," was invariably the quotation when putting on her shawl; and, it must be confessed, that never did five English girls put on shawls to such perfection.

   • 1932, Aldous Huxley, Brave New World‎^[1], London: Chatto & Windus:

     But wordless conditioning […] cannot inculcate the more complex courses of behaviour.

2. (transitive) To induce understanding or a particular sentiment in a person or persons.
   • 1641, Francis Bacon, A Wise and Moderate Discourse, Concerning Church-Affaires:

     all preachers , especially such as be of good temper , and have wisdom with conscience , ought to inculcate and beat upon a peace , silence , and surseance

   • 1943, C. S. Lewis, The Abolition of Man:

     The right defense against false sentiments is to inculcate just sentiments.

   • 1985 August 17, S. H. Chua, “IGA Smashes Borders”, in Gay Community News, volume 13, number 6, page 9:

     The institutional forces — school, psychiatry, police — that inculcate conformity and enforce heterosexuality in gay youth.

Translations

teach by repeated instruction

• Armenian: մտքում տպավորել (mtkʻum tpavorel), արմատավորել (hy) (armatavorel), մտցնել (hy) (mtcʻnel), պատվաստել (hy) (patvastel)
• Bulgarian: втълпявам (bg) (vtǎlpjavam)
• Crimean Tatar: talim
• Czech: vštípit
• Dutch: inprenten (nl)
• French: inculquer (fr)
• German: einimpfen (de), einschärfen (de)
• Italian: inculcare (it)
• Latin: inculcō
• Norwegian: innprente
• Portuguese: inculcar (pt)
• Russian: прививать (ru) (privivatʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian: utuviti (sh)
• Spanish: inculcar (es)
• Turkish: telkin etmek (tr)

to induce understanding or a particular sentiment in a person or persons

• Armenian: ներշնչել (hy) (neršnčʻel), արմատավորել (hy) (armatavorel), մտցնել (hy) (mtcʻnel), հաղորդել (hy) (haġordel)
• Bulgarian: внушавам (bg) (vnušavam)
• Latin: inculcō
• Romanian: inculca (ro), înrădăcina (ro)
• Russian: внушать (ru) (vnušatʹ), насаждать (ru) (nasaždatʹ)
• Spanish: inculcar (es)

Italian

Etymology 1

Verb

inculcate

1. inflection of inculcare:
   1. second-person plural present indicative
   2. second-person plural imperative

Etymology 2

Participle

inculcate f pl

1. feminine plural of inculcato

Latin

Participle

inculcāte

1. vocative masculine singular of inculcātus

Spanish

Verb

inculcate

1. second-person singular voseo imperative of inculcar combined with te