civilian C1 Topic:People & Society US /sɪˈvɪl.jən/ See IPA manual Freq #5625 Meanings 1 noun A person who is not a member of the armed forces or police. Many civilians were forced to flee the war zone. 2 adj Relating to ordinary people, not the military or police. The soldiers changed into civilian clothing. Thesaurus Word family Forms civilians Common collocations civilian clothing Adjective + noun Etymology AI details From Middle English cyvylien, from Old French civilien. Equivalent to civil + -ian. cyvylien Middle English civilien Old French View etymology graph -> Topics People & Society Word Formation & Derivatives External links Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary Google Images # civilian **Type:** Word **Level:** C1 **Part of speech:** noun, adj **IPA (US):** /sɪˈvɪl.jən/ **Frequency rank:** 5625 ## Meanings 1. A person who is not a member of the armed forces or police. 2. Relating to ordinary people, not the military or police. ## Examples - Many civilians were forced to flee the war zone. - The soldiers changed into civilian clothing. ## Roots and Affixes - Root: cyvylien - Root: civilien ## Etymology From Middle English cyvylien, from Old French civilien. Equivalent to civil + -ian. ## AI Etymology Civilian is from Middle English cyvylien, from Old French civilien. Equivalent to civil + -ian. The analysis is mainly morphological: the modern adjectival form is built from the named base and affix. Important recorded forms include cyvylien (Middle English) and civilien (Old French). Current senses include a person who is not a member of the armed forces or police and relating to ordinary people, not the military or police. ## Topics - People & Society - Word Formation & Derivatives markdown