Stirpicultures is a term used in botany to refer to the cultivation of specific plant species for their genetic characteristics. Its spelling can be broken down into phonetic segments: /stɜːr/ + /pɪˈkʌltʃəz/. The first part, "stir", comes from the Latin word stirps, meaning "stock" or "stem." The second part, "picultures", is derived from the Latin culturare, which means "to cultivate." The silent "i" in "stir" and the stress on the second syllable of "picultures" are typical of English spellings of Latin-based words.