civilian

Pronunciation

• IPA: /sɪˈvɪl.jən/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Old French civilien (“of the civil law”), from the phrase droit civilien, civil law,^[2][3][4] formed from cīvīlis (“of a citizen”) (see civil), from cīvis (“townsman, citizen”) (see city).^[2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

A practitioner or professor of civil law: 1388 in the OED,^[6] the late 14th century in Etymonline.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In 17th-century theology a civilian was one who followed a merely moral righteousness without faith in Christ (1619).^[6][3] A civil servant of the East India Company is from 1766,^[6] and generally a person not in the armed forces, the modern sense, from 1829 in the OED, by 1766 in Etymonline;^[6][2] NODE dates the current sense to the early 19th century.^[4] As an adjective, of civilian life, it is from the 1640s.^[2]

Timeline

• 1388 – a civil lawyer.^[6]
• 1619 – a follower of mere morality (obsolete).^[6]
• 1766 – an East India Company civil servant.^[6]
• 1829 – a non-military person.^[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A person who is not a member of the armed forces or the police.

Adjective

1. Of or relating to civilians: civilian clothes.

Word family

• civilianize
• noncivilian

Related words

• civil
• city
• civic
• citizen
• civilization

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press