civilian

American  

[si-vil-yuhn] / sɪˈvɪl yən /

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.

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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

• anticivilian adjective
• noncivilian noun
• procivilian adjective

Etymology

Origin of civilian

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

Example Sentences

Omar says a recruiter there had offered the men what they understood to be civilian work guarding oil facilities in Russia.

From BBC

"Sadly, Myanmar appears to be trapped in the cycle of atrocities and impunities," Jallow said, referring to the military's overthrow of the civilian government in 2021.

From BBC

It said a "civilian target" was hit, but did not elaborate on the exact location or the extent of any damage.

From Barron's

The U.S. launched wide-scale strikes against Islamic State targets in Syria on Saturday in response to the killing of two American soldiers and a civilian interpreter last month.

From The Wall Street Journal

Britain-based monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told AFP that 300 "young Kurds" had been arrested, stating that they were "civilians, not fighters".

From Barron's

Related Words

• citizen
• noncombatant