cultivées

Cultivées is the feminine plural form of the past participle of cultiver, and it also functions as an adjective meaning cultivated or cultured when it agrees with a feminine plural noun. It derives from the verb cultiver, which comes from Latin colere, to till or cultivate.

In botanical and agricultural contexts, cultivées designates plants that have been domesticated and propagated by humans, as opposed to sauvages, which grow in the wild. The term is commonly used in phrases such as des plantes cultivées or populations cultivées to emphasize human intervention in their growth and selection.

In horticulture and plant-breeding discourse, cultivated varieties are often described as variétés cultivées or cultivars, with cultivar being a loanword frequently used in French. Beyond plants, the word can describe people or objects that have been refined or educated, as in des personnes cultivées, meaning educated or cultured individuals.

Grammar and usage notes: the corresponding forms are cultivé (masculine singular), cultivée (feminine singular), cultivés (masculine plural), and cultivées (feminine plural). The meaning shifts with the noun it modifies, ranging from the agricultural sense of domesticated plants to the social sense of cultivated or refined manners and knowledge.