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.

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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

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 charges related to the downing of US civilian planes by Cuban forces on February 24, 1996, when Castro was defence minister.

From Barron's ● Aug. 13, 2026

Central Command is reviewing 15 additional incidents during the campaign against Houthi rebels that could have caused civilian casualties.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026

Centcom says it acted after "the ship's civilian crew ignored repeated warnings from American forces".

From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026

It also assessed that “there were no incidents in which civilian casualties more likely than not resulted from U.S. military operations” in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific Ocean, where U.S.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026

But she doesn’t talk about what happened to her between unlocking the gates of Buchenwald and her later life as a civilian with a family.

From "A Thousand Sisters" by Elizabeth Wein

"Border Police forces evacuated the tent and are working to evacuate the civilians who were staying there. The incident is still ongoing," the IDF stated.

From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026

A series of U.S. strikes on Yemen last year killed and wounded hundreds of civilians, according to an internal Pentagon assessment that was sent to Congress on Tuesday.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026

Because, frankly, the issues that civilians face from panopticontent are not the same as a global star’s, and they’re only getting worse.

From Slate ● Aug. 5, 2026

Damon’s Odysseus is numbed by the massacre of Troy’s civilians; Fiennes’ hates himself for leading the best men of Ithaca to their death, gutting his own community in the heedless destruction of another.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026

Jan: “I can’t believe that. You’re always looking on the dark side. What reason would they have to round up all the civilians and take them along?”

From "The Diary of a Young Girl" by Anne Frank

Related Words

• citizen
• noncombatant