Meaning & use
olericulture
Last updated
Meaning
noununcountabletechnicalspecialist
The science and practice of growing vegetables for food, as a branch of horticulture.
Grammar: Uncountable, like other fields of study: olericulture is taught at agricultural colleges.
Patterns
- a degree in olericulture
- research in olericulture
She earned her degree in olericulture and now advises tomato growers.
Olericulture is taught alongside pomology in many agricultural colleges.
The professor's research in olericulture focuses on lettuce and spinach.
Common combinations
- study olericulture
- He chose to study olericulture because he loved growing vegetables.
- commercial olericulture
- Commercial olericulture supplies supermarkets with fresh produce.
- a professor of olericulture
- The professor of olericulture ran trials on new carrot varieties.
- olericulture research
- Olericulture research helped farmers fight leaf disease.
- olericulture and pomology
- The department covers olericulture and pomology.
Synonyms and how they differ
- vegetable growing
- Vegetable growing is the plain everyday phrase, while olericulture sounds scientific and is used in academic settings.
- market gardening
- Market gardening is a British term for small farms growing vegetables for sale, so it describes a business type rather than a science.
- truck farming
- Truck farming is an American term for growing vegetables for sale at markets, and it focuses on selling rather than the science.
- horticulture
- Horticulture is broader, covering fruit, flowers and ornamentals as well as vegetables, whereas olericulture covers only vegetables.
Word family
- olericulturist noun
- a specialist in growing vegetables
- olericultural adjective
- relating to vegetable growing
- horticulture noun
- the wider science of growing garden plants
- horticulturist noun
- an expert in growing plants
Commonly confused: olericulture or pomology? olericulture or floriculture?
olericulture vs pomology
Pomology is the study of fruit growing, so the two fields share a scientific background but cover different crops.
olericulture vs floriculture
Floriculture is the growing of flowers and ornamental plants, whereas olericulture is about vegetables.
Practice
A graduate student who studies how to grow tomatoes, lettuce and carrots is working in ___.
Choose one answer.
Olericulture is vegetable growing. Pomology covers fruit, floriculture covers flowers, and silviculture is the care of forests.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “olericulture”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.