civilian

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Old French civilien.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sɪˈvɪljən/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

civilian (plural civilians)

1. A person following the pursuits of civil life, especially one who is not an active member of the armed forces.

   Three civilians were apprehended by the soldiers and taken away in a military vehicle.

2. (informal) A person who does not belong to a particular group or engage in a particular activity.

   The bathroom was for employees only, so no civilians were allowed to use it.

3. One skilled in civil law.
   • (Can we date this quote by Jonathan Swift and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)

     Ancient civilians and writers upon government.

4. A student of civil law at a university or college.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of R. Graves to this entry?)

Translations

non-military person

• Bulgarian: циви́лен (bg) m (civílen)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 平民 (zh) (píngmín)

• Dutch: burger (nl) m
• Esperanto: civilulo
• Finnish: siviili (fi)
• French: civil (fr) m, civile (fr) f
• German: Zivilist (de) m, Zivilistin f
• Hebrew: אזרח (he) m (ezrakh), אזרחית f (ezrakhyt)
• Hindi: नागरिक (hi) m (nāgrik)
• Hungarian: civil (hu), civil személy, polgári személy
• Italian: civile (it) m
• Japanese: 文民 (ja) (ぶんみん, bunmin)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Korean: 민간인 (ko) (min'ganin)
• Mongolian: иргэн (mn) (irgen)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: sivilist m

  Nynorsk: sivilist m

• Persian: غیرنظامی (fa) (ghayrenezâmi)
• Portuguese: civil (pt) m or f
• Russian: гражда́нское лицо́ n (graždánskoje licó), гражда́нский челове́к m (graždánskij čelovék), гражда́нский (ru) m (graždánskij), шта́тский (ru) m (štátskij)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Roman: cìvīl (sh) m

• Swedish: civil (sv) c
• Turkish: sivil (tr)

Adjective

civilian (not comparable)

1. Not related to the military, police or other professions.

   The three detainees were actually army defectors wearing civilian clothing.

   He worked as a civilian journalist for ten years before being employed by the public broadcaster.

Translations

not related to the military armed forces

• Bulgarian: циви́лен (bg) (civílen)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 文職的／文职的 (zh), 文职的 (zh) (wénzhí de)

• Dutch: burger-
• Finnish: siviili- (fi)
• French: civil (fr)
• German: zivil (de)
• Hebrew: אזרחי (he) (ezrakhí)
• Hindi: नागरिक (hi) (nāgrik)
• Hungarian: civil (hu), polgári (hu)
• Icelandic: borgaralegur (is)
• Italian: civile (it)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Japanese: 市民の (ja) (shimin no)
• Polish: cywilny (pl)
• Portuguese: civil (pt)
• Russian: гражда́нский (ru) (graždánskij), циви́льный (ru) (civílʹnyj), шта́тский (ru) (štátskij)
• Scottish Gaelic: sìobhalta
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Roman: cìvīlnī (sh)

• Swedish: civil (sv)
• Turkish: sivil (tr)