civilization

American  

[siv-uh-luh-zey-shuhn] / ˌsɪv ə ləˈzeɪ ʃən /

noun

• civilizations
  plural

1. 

   an advanced state of human society, in which a high level of culture, science, industry, and government has been reached.

2. those people or nations that have reached such a state.

3. any type of culture, society, etc., of a specific place, time, or group.

   Greek civilization.

4. the act or process of civilizing, as by bringing out of a savage, uneducated, or unrefined state, or of being civilized.

   Rome's civilization of barbaric tribes was admirable.

5. cultural refinement; refinement of thought and cultural appreciation.

   The letters of Madame de Sévigné reveal her wit and civilization.

6. cities or populated areas in general, as opposed to unpopulated or wilderness areas.

   The plane crashed in the jungle, hundreds of miles from civilization.

7. modern comforts and conveniences, as made possible by science and technology.

   After a week in the woods, without television or even running water, the campers looked forward to civilization again.

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civilization British  

/ ˌsɪvɪlaɪˈzeɪʃən /

noun

1. a human society that has highly developed material and spiritual resources and a complex cultural, political, and legal organization; an advanced state in social development

2. the peoples or nations collectively who have achieved such a state

3. the total culture and way of life of a particular people, nation, region, or period

   classical civilization

4. the process of bringing or achieving civilization

5. intellectual, cultural, and moral refinement

6. cities or populated areas, as contrasted with sparsely inhabited areas, deserts, etc

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• decivilization
  noun
• hypercivilization
  noun
• intercivilization
  noun
• overcivilization
  noun
• precivilization
  noun
• subcivilization
  noun
• supercivilization
  noun
• civilizational
  adjective
• postcivilization
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• civilizations
  plural

Etymology

Origin of civilization

First recorded in 1765–75; from French civilisation; see civilize, -ation

Explanation

Civilization is the opposite of barbarism and chaos. Civilization is an advanced stage of human society, where people live with a reasonable degree of organization and comfort and can think about things like art and education. Civilization covers a wide range of human achievement — from the ancient Egyptians, to Mayan and Chinese civilizations, Western civilization, and everything in between. You can use the word more generally — when you're lost in the woods, you’ll be looking for signs of civilization — lights in the distance and smoke rising from chimneys. Civilization comes from Latin civis, "citizen." If you've got citizens, then you've got government and you're moving right along on the path of human advancement.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

civilization civilizations

Simmering worries that the technology could wipe out civilization and launch cyberattacks reached a boil at the office and around the dinner table—and prompted AI leaders to call for more regulation of the technology.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026

If tech bros are saying that AI might someday break containment and take down civilization, that sounds like an accountability sink coupled with an investor pitch.

From Salon ● Sep. 16, 2026

“How do you conquer a civilization and a people?”

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2026

His warning came days after one of his employees stoked fears that there was a greater than 10% chance that AI systems could destroy civilization.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026

Baltimore, New York, Philadelphia—these places represent American civilization, and many figured that the only way to keep the country together would be to rebuild it.”

From "Dread Nation" by Justina Ireland

The rise and fall of AI agent civilizations.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 31, 2026

The questions that define civilizations don’t always announce themselves cleanly.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026

For their argument, Schwitzgebel and Pober estimate that at least 1,000 behaviorally sophisticated extraterrestrial civilizations have existed somewhere in the universe.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 24, 2026

Human civilizations across the ages have understood this to be an important lesson, which is how gold became the go-to cautionary symbol for greed, vanity, and the hollow existence to which they lead.

From Slate ● Jun. 11, 2026

Mollie’s family was straddling not only two centuries but two civilizations.

From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann

Related Words

• advancement
• development
• education
• progress