monoculture

noun

mono·​cul·​ture ˈmä-nə-ˌkəl-chər 

1

a

: the cultivation or growth of a single crop or organism especially on agricultural or forest land

b

: a crop or a population of a single kind of organism grown on land in monoculture

c

: growth consisting of a single crop, plant, or organism

The plant forms a thick monoculture that cuts down on the variety of plants and birdlife in the marsh …

—James Gorman

2

: a culture dominated by a single element : a prevailing culture marked by homogeneity

monocultural

ˌmä-nə-ˈkəlch-rəl 

-ˈkəl-chə-

adjective

Examples of monoculture in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The interplay of people, businesses, and ideas is an important reason why cities with diverse economies do better than industrial monocultures. —Sandy Hornick, Foreign Affairs, 1 July 2011

The globalized, industrialized banana exists as a textbook example of monoculture under mounting threat from blight. —Tribune News Service, The Mercury News, 13 Aug. 2024

Its widespread cultivation has botanists and other scientists lamenting the dangers of such an intense monoculture to Mexico’s rich biodiversity and scrambling to find solutions. —Chantal Martineau, Foreign Affairs, 25 Nov. 2015

In contrast, Detroit had relied on an industrial monoculture: producing cars. —Sandy Hornick, Foreign Affairs, 1 July 2011

Word History

First Known Use

1901, in the meaning defined at sense 1a