citizen
Americannoun
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a native or naturalized member of a state or nation who owes allegiance to its government and is entitled to its protection (distinguished from alien).
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an inhabitant of a city or town, especially one entitled to its privileges or franchises.
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an inhabitant, or denizen.
The deer is a citizen of our woods.
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a civilian, as distinguished from a soldier, police officer, etc.
noun
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a native registered or naturalized member of a state, nation, or other political community Compare alien
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an inhabitant of a city or town
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a native or inhabitant of any place
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a civilian, as opposed to a soldier, public official, etc
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of citizen
First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English citisein, from Anglo-French citesein, Old French citeain, from cite city + -ain -an; change from citeain to citesein perhaps by association with Anglo-French denzain denizen
Explanation
It's pretty hard to be on this planet and not be recognized as a citizen of somewhere. You can be a citizen of a city, a country, or the world. Citizen can mean "an inhabitant of a particular place." To be recognized as an official citizen of a town, city, or country, one typically has to meet certain requirements. In return, one gets certain rights, such as the right to vote. In other uses, a citizen may just be someone who lives in a place, such as a "citizen of the world." That's a nice thing to be, but it's not going to get you social security payments when you retire.
Vocabulary lists containing citizen
Election Lingo
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Electoral Elocution: The Verbiage of Voting
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"The Civil Rights Movement"
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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.
But Colonel Roosevelt was first and foremost a CITIZEN, his career as a soldier was for a few months only.
From Theodore Roosevelt by Pearson, Edmund Lester
"God never made a CITIZEN, and no one will escape as a man, from the sins which he commits as a citizen."
From The Anti-Slavery Examiner, Part 4 of 4 by American Anti-Slavery Society
My limbs are not mine own. 3D CITIZEN.
From The Poems of Emma Lazarus, Volume 2 Jewish poems: Translations by Lazarus, Emma
Enter, above, a CITIZEN, who kneels to the GOVERNOR.
From Tamburlaine the Great — Part 2 by Marlowe, Christopher
What, will you live with shame, or die with fame? 1ST CITIZEN.
From A Select Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 7 by Various
Definitions 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.
