civilization

== English == === Alternative forms === civilisation (UK) === Etymology === Borrowed from French civilisation, equivalent to civilize +‎ -ation or civil +‎ -ization. === Pronunciation === (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˌsɪv.ɪ.laɪˈzeɪ.ʃən/ (General American, Canada) IPA(key): /ˌsɪv.ə.laɪˈzeɪ.ʃən/, /ˌsɪv.ə.ləˈzeɪ.ʃən/ (General Australian) IPA(key): /ˌsɪv.ə.lɑeˈzæɪ.ʃən/ (General Australian) IPA(key): /ˌsəv.ə.laɪˈzæɪ.ʃən/, [ˌsəv.ə.lɑe̯ˈzæɪ.ʃən] Hyphenation: civ‧il‧i‧za‧tion === Noun === civilization (countable and uncountable, plural civilizations) An organized culture encompassing many communities, often on the scale of a nation or a people; a stage or system of social, political, or technical development. (uncountable) Human society, particularly civil society. The act or process of civilizing or becoming civilized. The state or quality of being civilized. (obsolete) The act of rendering a criminal process civil. ==== Synonyms ==== (large-scale stage of societal development): culture, order (group of countries): sphere (act of civilizing): education, acculturation (preferred human society): home, land of the living ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Related terms ==== ==== Descendants ==== → Ukrainian: Ци́ва (Cýva) ==== Translations ==== === Proper noun === civilization (inherently emic, sometimes capitalized) Collectively, those people and places of the world considered to have a high standard of behavior and / or a high level of development. Commonly subjectively used by people of one society to exclusively refer to their society, or their elite sub-group, or a few associated societies, implying all others, in time or geography or status, as something less than civilised, as savages or barbarians. (Compare refinement, elitism, civilised society, the Civilised World. Antonyms: wilderness, wilds; anecumene (archaic) Coordinate terms: frontier, outlands, wastelands Near-synonym: ecumene (archaic) ==== Translations ==== === References === “civilization”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC. William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin Eli Smith, editors (1895–1910), “civilization”, in The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia: […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC. “civilization”, in OneLook Dictionary Search. Raymond Williams (1983), “Civilization”, in Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society, revised American edition, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, published 1985, →ISBN, page 57. civilization in Keywords for Today: A 21st Century Vocabulary, edited by The Keywords Project, Colin MacCabe, Holly Yanacek, 2018.