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.

---

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

---

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• noncivilian
  noun
• anticivilian
  adjective
• procivilian
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• civilians
  plural

Etymology

Origin of civilian

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

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

The Kremlin has denied that online platforms are used for army supplies, but a variety of military-related goods such as body armour are on sale, alongside items with both civilian and drone-production applications.

From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026

Centrifuges are machines that are used to spin uranium gas, separating isotopes to enrich the material for civilian nuclear energy or potential weapons production.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026

Some of those strikes could violate international law, which forbids attacking civilian infrastructure.

From Slate ● Jul. 20, 2026

Kuwait said Iran hit a power and water plant on Sunday causing a fire, while Bahrain also accused Tehran of targeting civilian infrastructure.

From Barron's ● Jul. 19, 2026

“What’s your poison?” the civilian with a penchant for Kipling asked Queenie genially.

From "Code Name Verity" by Elizabeth Wein

A. Dirk Moses, the journal’s senior editor since 2011, argues it is useless to distinguish intentional killing of civilians from collateral damage caused by strikes against terrorists.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026

She was grateful to civilians for protesting to oust Syrsky.

From Barron's ● Jul. 22, 2026

In 1982, Britain and Argentina fought the Falklands War - a brief 74-day conflict that resulted in the deaths of 649 Argentine soldiers, 255 British combatants and three civilians.

From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026

Keeping such power a safe distance from Israeli civilians underlies the thinking, and the subsequent action.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 12, 2026

They wanted the Germans to know they were soldiers on an official Allied mission—that way, hopefully, the Germans wouldn’t retaliate against Norwegian civilians in nearby towns.

From "Bomb" by Steve Sheinkin

Related Words

• citizen
• noncombatant