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

Ukrainian officials have vowed to avoid targeting airliners and civilian deaths.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026

Air defenses’ large-scale use of spoofing, or transmitting fake GPS signals to send drones off course, can disorient civilian air traffic.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026

In 2013, President Barack Obama gave Steinem the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2026

There are 420 memorials at the 150-acre site, which honours the service and sacrifice of the armed forces, emergency services and other civilian organisations, including the Sands charity's baby loss memorial.

From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026

You don’t do infrared reconnaissance and maintain a civilian arsenal in some namby-pamby tree house.

From "Dry" by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman

Critics say the cameras, which take pictures of the rear of every car that drives past, are overly broad investigative tools that treat civilians like suspects.

From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2026

Led by Finnish troops who are part of Unifil, the convoy was escorting civilians to and from Christian villages near the border.

From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2026

According to the Geneva-based research centre Small Arms Survey, civilians had more than 2.3 million firearms in 2017 -- nearly three for every 10 inhabitants.

From Barron's ● Aug. 30, 2026

The Israeli military reported 72 deaths, and at least 50 civilians have died, according to news reports.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026

There were thousands of Japanese, soldiers and civilians both, in those attacks.

From "Code Talker: A Novel About the Navajo Marines of World War Two" by Joseph Bruchac

Related Words

• citizen
• noncombatant