civilian

[ si-vil-yuhn ]
See synonyms for: civiliancivilians on Thesaurus.com

noun
  1. a person who is not on active duty with a military, naval, police, or fire fighting organization.

  2. Informal. anyone regarded by members of a profession, interest group, society, etc., as not belonging; nonprofessional; outsider: We need a producer to run the movie studio, not some civilian from the business world.

  1. a person versed in or studying Roman or civil law.

adjective
  1. of, pertaining to, formed by, or administered by civilians.

Origin of civilian

1
1350–1400; Middle English: student of civil law <Old French civilien (adj.); see civil, -ian

Other words from civilian

  • an·ti·ci·vil·ian, adjective
  • non·ci·vil·ian, noun
  • pro·ci·vil·ian, adjective

Words Nearby civilian

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How to use civilian in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for civilian

civilian

/ (sɪˈvɪljən) /


noun
    • a person whose primary occupation is civil or nonmilitary

    • (as modifier): civilian life

Origin of civilian

1
C14 (originally: a practitioner of civil law): from civile (from the Latin phrase jūs cīvīle civil law) + -ian

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012