From WordNet (r) 2.0 (August 2003) [wn]:
agriculture
n 1: a large-scale farming enterprise [syn: agribusiness,
factory farm]
2: the practice of cultivating the land or raising stock [syn:
farming, husbandry]
3: the federal department that administers programs that
provide services to farmers (including research and soil
conservation and efforts to stabilize the farming
economy); created in 1862 [syn: {Department of
Agriculture}, Agriculture Department, Agriculture,
USDA]
4: the class of people engaged in growing food
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Agriculture \Ag"ri*cul`ture\ (?; 135), n. [L. agricultura; ager
field + cultura cultivation: cf. F. agriculture. See Acre
and Culture.]
The art or science of cultivating the ground, including the
harvesting of crops, and the rearing and management of live
stock; tillage; husbandry; farming.
[1913 Webster]