civilization
Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary
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[edit] English
[edit] Alternative spellings
- civilisation (Commonwealth)
[edit] Etymology
Confer French civilisation.
[edit] Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA: sɪvəlaɪˈzeɪʃən, IPA: sɪvəlɪˈzeɪʃən
- (US) IPA: sivɪlɪˈzeɪʃən
- Audio (US)help, file
- (Australia) IPA: sɪvəlaɪˈzeɪʃən
[edit] Noun
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Singular |
Plural |
civilization (plural civilizations)
- An organized culture encompassing many communities, often on the scale of a nation or a people; a stage or system of social, political, or technical development.
- the Aztec civilization
- Western civilization
- Modern civilization is a product of industrialization and globalization.
- (uncountable) Human society, particularly civil society.
- A hermit doesn't much care for civilization.
- I'm glad to be back in civilization after a day with that rowdy family.
- The act or process of civilizing or becoming civilized.
- The teacher's civilization of the child was no easy task.
- The state or quality of being civilized.
- He was a man of great civilization.
- (obsolete) The act of rendering a criminal process civil.
[edit] Synonyms
- (large-scale stage of societal development): culture, order
- (group of countries): sphere
- (act of civilizing): education, acculturation
- (preferred human society): home, the land of the living
[edit] Derived terms
[edit] Translations
organized culture
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human society
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act or process of civilizing or becoming civilized
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state or quality of being civilized
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[edit] Proper noun
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Singular |
Plural |
civilization
- Collectively, those people of the world considered to have a high standard of behavior and / or a high level of development. Commonly subjectively used by people of one society to exclusively refer to their society, or their elite sub-group, or a few associated societies, implying all others, in time or geography or status, as something less than civilised, as savages or barbarians. cf refinement, elitism, civilised society, the Civilised World
[edit] Translations
people of the world considered to have a high standard of behavior
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
Translations to be checked
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[edit] External links
- civilization in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
- civilization in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
- civilization at OneLook® Dictionary Search