civilian English · revision 6487

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1388|origins=la civis}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /sɪˈvɪl.jən/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|fro|civilien|t=of the civil law]], from the phrase droit civilien, civil law,^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(NODE 1998) formed from [[m|la|cīvīlis|t=of a citizen]] (see [[civil]]), from [[m|la|cīvis|t=townsman, citizen]] (see [[city]]).^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A practitioner or professor of civil law: 1388 in the OED,^(OED 1989) the late 14th century in Etymonline.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In 17th-century theology a civilian was one who followed a merely moral righteousness without faith in Christ (1619).^(OED 1989)^(Hoad 1986) A civil servant of the East India Company is from 1766,^(OED 1989) and generally a person not in the armed forces, the modern sense, from 1829 in the OED, by 1766 in Etymonline;^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) NODE dates the current sense to the early 19th century.^(NODE 1998) As an adjective, of civilian life, it is from the 1640s.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1388 – a civil lawyer.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1619 – a follower of mere morality (obsolete).^(OED 1989)

+ * 1766 – an East India Company civil servant.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1829 – a non-military person.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A person who is not a member of the [[armed forces]] or the police.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Of or relating to civilians: ''civilian clothes''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[civilianize]]

+ * [[noncivilian]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[civil]]

+ * [[city]]

+ * [[civic]]

+ * [[citizen]]

+ * [[civilization]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}