civics
Americannoun
noun
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the study of the rights and responsibilities of citizenship
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the study of government and its workings
Etymology
Origin of civics
Explanation
The study of citizenship is called civics. If your school offers a civics class, you can learn about the importance of things like voting and paying taxes. Student government can teach you about civics, and so can certain social studies lessons and classes that a country's new citizens sometimes take. Civics can teach you about the rights granted to citizens, as well as their responsibilities, such as serving on juries and engaging in the political process. The word civics was an American English invention, modeled on politics, from the Latin civicus, "of a citizen."
Vocabulary lists containing civics
We the People: Civ
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Out of the Dust
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American Government and Civics, List 2
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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.
At Utah Valley University, planned commencement speaker Sharon McMahon, a bestselling author on American history and civics, said she had hoped to deliver a speech that would comfort those mourning Kirk.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 9, 2026
So, part of your question was, are they well situated for the civics education of 18- to 22-year-olds?
From The Wall Street Journal • May 7, 2026
Williams has said he fondly remembers his civics and French classes at North Hollywood High, but his time and passion were almost exclusively devoted to music.
From Los Angeles Times • May 4, 2026
It was like a civics revision lesson in one of the great cradles of democracy.
From BBC • Apr. 28, 2026
“Sorry, a nineteen-year-old girl who wouldn’t even talk to me when we sat right beside each other in civics class!”
From "Where Things Come Back" by John Corey Whaley
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.
