Etymologically
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civilian

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 09:53. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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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

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