civilize

C2+ Topic:People & Society

Also spelled civilise, sivilize, and sivilized

US /ˈsɪvəˌlaɪz/ UK /ˈsɪvɪˌlaɪz/ See IPA manual

verb

Meanings

1

verb
to bring out of a primitive state to a more refined social condition

They believed roads and schools would civilize the frontier.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to bring out of a primitive... refine cultivate educate enlighten tame polish

Opposites

barbarizebrutalize

Word family

Derived forms civilizedcivilizingcivilization

Related forms civil civility civic

Etymology

From French civiliser, from Latin civilis ('relating to citizens'), from civis ('citizen').

civilis Latin civis Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

People & Society Word Formation & Derivatives

# civilize

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** ˈsɪvəˌlaɪz
**IPA (UK):** ˈsɪvɪˌlaɪz

## Meanings
1. to bring out of a primitive state to a more refined social condition

## Examples
- They believed roads and schools would civilize the frontier.

## Synonyms
- refine
- cultivate
- educate
- enlighten
- tame
- polish

## Antonyms
- barbarize
- brutalize

## Derived Forms
- civilized
- civilizing
- civilization

## Related Forms
- civil
- civility
- civic

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: civilis
- Root: civis

## Etymology
From French civiliser, from Latin civilis ('relating to citizens'), from civis ('citizen').

## AI Etymology
Civilize comes from French civiliser, from Latin civilis ('relating to citizens'), from civis ('citizen'). The historical trail runs through civilis in Latin and civis in Latin. Used as a verb, civilize now means "bring out of a primitive state to a more refined social condition", so the present definition can be read against the older forms and meanings. The same lexical family is also visible in derived forms such as civilized, civilizing, and civilization and related forms such as civil, civility, and civic. The result is a borrowed or transmitted form whose modern spelling carries a compact record of its route into English.

## Topics
- People & Society
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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civilize

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