acculturation

noun

ac·​cul·​tur·​a·​tion ə-ˌkəl-chə-ˈrā-shən 

a-

1

: cultural modification of an individual, group, or people by adapting to or borrowing traits from another culture

the acculturation of immigrants to American life

also : a merging of cultures as a result of prolonged contact

2

: the process by which a human being acquires the culture of a particular society from infancy

acculturational

ə-ˌkəl-chə-ˈrā-sh(ə-)nəl 

a-

adjective

acculturative

ə-ˈkəl-chə-ˌrā-tiv 

a-

adjective

Did you know?

What is the difference between acculturation, assimilation, and amalgamation?

Acculturation is one of several forms of culture contact, and has a couple of closely related terms, including assimilation and amalgamation. Although all three of these words refer to changes due to contact between different cultures, there are notable differences between them. Acculturation is often tied to political conquest or expansion, and is applied to the process of change in beliefs or traditional practices that occurs when the cultural system of one group displaces that of another. Assimilation refers to the process through which individuals and groups of differing heritages acquire the basic habits, attitudes, and mode of life of an embracing culture. Amalgamation refers to a blending of cultures, rather than one group eliminating another (acculturation) or one group mixing itself into another (assimilation).

Examples of acculturation in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Far from being an act of resistance, could de-skilling actually grease the wheels of avant-garde acculturation, facilitating the movement of capital into every last nook and cranny of cultural production, even the most seemingly resistant? —Gordon Hughes, Artforum, 1 Nov. 2024

More acculturation also means such second-generation Asian Americans place a greater emphasis on the individual than on the collective, Ng said. —Kimmy Yam, NBC News, 15 June 2024

Contact with the home country became more sporadic, use of the native language began to fall away, and, ultimately, intermarriage completed a process of acculturation that had begun when the first children born to immigrant parents headed off to an American school. —Ray Suarez, Foreign Affairs, 1 Sep. 2012

Those who were born in the U.S. tend to reflect an acculturation to American society, which, more generally, has become hesitant about strict parenting. —Kimmy Yam, NBC News, 15 June 2024

Word History

Etymology

ad- + culture entry 1 + -ation

Note: Word introduced by the American soldier, geologist, and explorer John Wesley Powell (1834-1902) in Introduction to the Study of Indian Languages (Smithsonian Institution, 1880), and used by him subsequently in a number of essays.

First Known Use

1880, in the meaning defined at sense 1