Civilisation

How to spell civilisation

12 letters · 5 syllables

How to pronounce civilisation

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does civilisation mean?

1. nounAn advanced and organised human society, with its own culture, institutions and way of life.

Civilisation in a sentence

• The museum exhibit traced the rise of ancient Roman civilisation.

• Historians debate why that early civilisation collapsed so suddenly.

Where does civilisation come from?

Language of origin: French

This word traces back to the Latin civis, meaning 'a citizen', which gave rise to civilis, 'relating to citizens or to public life', and to civitas, 'a community of citizens' or 'a city-state'. The French built civilisation in the eighteenth century to name the process of becoming refined, ordered and lawful, the opposite of a wild or barbarous condition. English borrowed it in the 1700s, and over time the meaning broadened from the act of civilising to the great cultured societies themselves, such as ancient Egypt or Rome. The same civis root sits inside the everyday words 'civil', 'civic' and 'citizen', which is a useful reminder that the heart of the word is the citizen. In British spelling the suffix is written with an 's' (-isation), reflecting the verb 'civilise', and that 's' is the very letter American writers replace with a 'z'.

How the word is built

• civil- (from Latin civilis: relating to citizens)
• -ise (verb-forming suffix, British spelling)
• -ation (noun of process/state)