Acculturative

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Relating to the process in which individuals or groups adopt cultural traits from another society
2. describing the influence of one culture on another, often through exposure and interaction
3. characterized by the changes in cultural practices and beliefs resulting from contact with different cultures

Etymology: "Acculturative" is a plain formation: it is the adjective built from "acculturate" plus the suffix "-ive," meaning having the quality of or tending toward the action named by the base. The base verb "acculturate" is itself built on "culture," with the prefix "ac-" (a form of "ad-," meaning "toward" or "to") that marks the process of bringing one group into contact with another's customs and ways. The suffix does the adjective work. It descends from Latin "-ivus," which passed through Old French "-if" and Middle English "-yf" before settling into the modern English "-ive." Words like "active," "creative," and "sensitive" follow the same route, so "acculturative" fits a long-established pattern rather than a new coinage.