citizenship
Americannoun
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the state of being vested with the rights, privileges, and duties of a citizen.
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the character of an individual viewed as a member of society; behavior in terms of the duties, obligations, and functions of a citizen.
an award for good citizenship.
noun
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the condition or status of a citizen, with its rights and duties
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a person's conduct as a citizen
an award for good citizenship
Etymology
Origin of citizenship
Explanation
Citizenship is the status of being a citizen. If you have citizenship in a country, you have the right to live there, work, vote, and pay taxes! Citizenship comes from the Latin word for city, because in the earlier days of human governments, people identified themselves as belonging to cities more than countries. Citizenship is more than merely living somewhere. If you have citizenship, you have a whole set of rights that non-citizens might not have. Usually you have citizenship in the country you're born in, but if you're an immigrant from somewhere else, you have to apply for it.
Vocabulary lists containing citizenship
Michelle Obama's Speech at the 2016 DNC
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Citizenship (Civics) - Middle School
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Ancient Greece, Lessons 1–3
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Immigration lawyers say their clients are facing more intense scrutiny and that some have battled false accusations of fraud after applying for a green card or citizenship.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 23, 2026
"As I said earlier this week, it's absolutely right that people should have to make a contribution to this country in order to earn citizenship," Fahnbulleh said.
From BBC ● Oct. 22, 2026
They’re each being accused of making false statements in their naturalization applications—those applications ask whether applicants previously registered to vote or claimed U.S. citizenship.
From Slate ● Oct. 22, 2026
The Social Security Administration did not respond to a request for comment, or to questions regarding why there was so much incomplete data or what about citizenship statuses were inaccurate.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 20, 2026
New Departure advocates argued that women who met those conditions were citizens, so they should have all the rights of citizenship, including the right to vote.
From "Votes for Women!" by Winifred Conkling
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
