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

UN human rights chief Volker Turk said Tuesday that civilians were bearing the brunt of the attacks and called on Russia to stop them, accusing Moscow of having breached the "rules of warfare".

From Barron's

It states that "journalists in war zones must be treated as civilians and protected as such, provided they play no part in the hostilities".

From Barron's

In parallel to NATO’s military command is a civilian bureaucracy, supplemented by 32 national embassies.

From The Wall Street Journal

A key consideration is that the opposition mostly consists of disparate groups of unarmed civilians.

From The Wall Street Journal

Inside the building, a display made by academics at Herat University's art department recalls the suffering of civilians and the struggle for independence.

From Barron's

Related Words

• citizen
• noncombatant