civilian

American  

[si-vil-yuhn] / sɪˈvɪl jən /

noun

• civilians
  plural

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.

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

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adjective

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

civilian British  

/ sɪˈvɪljən /

noun

1. 1. a person whose primary occupation is civil or nonmilitary

   2. ( as modifier )

      civilian life

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• noncivilian
  noun
• anticivilian
  adjective
• procivilian
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• civilians
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of civilian

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

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Explanation

The most common meaning for civilian is simply someone who is not in the military. It can also refer to any object that is not military in origin — e.g., "civilian clothes" or "civilian life." The meaning of civilian as a non military person is a relatively new one, dating from the early 19th century. Before that it referred to the code of law that governed non-military life. In fact for hundreds of years a civilian was somebody who was a judge or otherwise an expert on the law that applied outside military courts. Because it comes originally from a French word, remember to spell it with only one "l," even though it sounds like it should have two.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

civilian civilians

"Soldiers have targets while civilians have goals. The objective of both is victory," he said, adding that combining military and civilian disciplines would help create a generation capable of achieving both.

From BBC ● Oct. 31, 2026

Mr. Berg, unlike Messrs. Spielberg and Gibson, shines a light on the barbarism and racism of some U.S. troops and the staggering number of civilian casualties.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 29, 2026

Regional governor Oleksandr Prokudin wrote on Telegram on Wednesday morning that "no strikes or hits on civilian or critical infrastructure facilities were recorded" over the past 24 hours.

From Barron's ● Oct. 28, 2026

“During the space shuttle program, the closest you could get to the space shuttle was three miles away,” as a civilian.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 28, 2026

But while in the past she’d been a civilian working on the edges of the military, now she made a positive decision to follow a military career herself.

From "A Thousand Sisters" by Elizabeth Wein

An unspecified number of civilians were also injured during the operation, which was carried out "with rigour, balance and respect for citizens' rights", the police statement said.

From Barron's ● Nov. 1, 2026

A rare humanitarian ceasefire in Ukraine's Kherson region, that has allowed civilians to evacuate the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky, is due to end on Sunday night.

From BBC ● Nov. 1, 2026

The ceasefire is meant to allow aid deliveries and the evacuation of civilians.

From BBC ● Oct. 27, 2026

Ukrainian officials spent months publicly demanding that Russia allow civilians some safe route out of Oleshky.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 27, 2026

The food at the school was much better than what they ate as civilians.

From Nazi Saboteurs by Samantha Seiple

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Related Words

• citizen
• noncombatant

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