civilize
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
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to bring out of savagery or barbarism into a state characteristic of civilization
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to refine, educate, or enlighten
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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civilizernoun
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overcivilizeverb
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civilizableadjective
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civilizatoryadjective
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noncivilizableadjective
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uncivilizableadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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civilizesimple
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civilizessimple
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have civilizedperfect
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has civilizedperfect
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am civilizingprogressive
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are civilizingprogressive
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is civilizingprogressive
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have been civilizingperfect progressive
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has been civilizingperfect progressive
Past
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civilizedsimple
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had civilizedperfect
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was civilizingprogressive
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were civilizingprogressive
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had been civilizingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of civilize
Explanation
To civilize is to make someone or something more tame or refined, and less wild. You might try to civilize your younger brother by teaching him some table manners. You can attempt to civilize your crazy dog, so you can invite people over without having her jump on them and chew on their shoes. You can also civilize a person by teaching them to be more sophisticated or tasteful: "My aunt tried to civilize me by taking me to museums and ballets, but I preferred watching professional wrestling on TV." The Latin word civilis is at the root of civilized, meaning "befitting a citizen" or "courteous."
Vocabulary lists containing civilize
We the People: Civ
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List 4
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All My Sons
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In “Panorama,” two dancers from the Paris Opera Ballet, Guillaume Diop and Germain Louvet, and one from the cabaret world, Soa de Muse, attempt to civilize the mural in reverse.
From New York Times • Nov. 16, 2022
By the fifth century BCE, some of the larger villages of Macedon grew big enough to be considered cities, and elite Macedonians made efforts to civilize their country in the style of the southern Greeks.
From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2020
Without dogs, human beings would not have been able to civilize, as they did.
From Salon • Nov. 10, 2019
But their aim is the same: to drag resplendent nature indoors to hyperbolize and civilize its beauty.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 18, 2018
Somewhere above, the rockets burned down to civilize a beautifully dead planet.
From "The Martian Chronicles" by Ray Bradbury
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
