Civilization

Quick meaning: Civilization is a noun meaning (uncountable) Human society, particularly civil society.

Meaning

(uncountable) Human society, particularly civil society.

More Meanings

1. The act or process of civilizing or becoming civilized.
2. The state or quality of being civilized.
3. 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.
4. (inherently emic, sometimes capitalized) Collectively, those people and places 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. (Compare refinement, elitism, civilised society, the Civilised World.
5. (obsolete) The act of rendering a criminal process civil.

Example Sentences

Western civilization

the Aztec civilization

A hermit doesn't much care for civilization.

The teacher's civilization of the child was no easy task.

Word Forms

• civilizations
• civilisation

Synonyms for civilization

Depending on context, synonyms include culture, order, sphere, education, acculturation, ecumene.

Antonyms for civilization

Common opposites include wilderness, wilds, anecumene.

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include society, culture, cultural, civilized, civil, civilisation.

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