civilian

[si-vil-yuhn]

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.

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

adjective

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

civilian

/ sɪˈvɪljən /

noun

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

   2. ( as modifier )

      civilian life

Other Word Forms

• anticivilian adjective
• noncivilian noun
• procivilian adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of civilian¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of civilian¹

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

Example Sentences

The president and his “secretary of war” deliver unhinged macho-snowflake monologues urging senior military officers to wage war on civilians in American cities.

From Salon

But Dughmush refused their offer, saying his family were civilians, and that though they were not affiliated with Hamas, they had no interest in being “tools of the occupation.”

From Los Angeles Times

"The Russians could not have been unaware that they were targeting civilians. This is terrorism, which the world has no right to ignore," Zelensky wrote on X.

From BBC

Right now we are being forced to consider whether the president of the United States can legally order the military to murder “non-international” civilians he has unilaterally declared to be drug trafficking terrorists.

From Salon

Speaking to the BBC, Ali argued he had not been referencing the Hamas attack on Israeli civilians - killing about 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages.

From BBC

Related Words

• citizen 
• noncombatant