Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun An advanced state of intellectual, cultural, and material development in human society, marked by progress in the arts and sciences, the extensive use of record-keeping, including writing, and the appearance of complex political and social institutions.
- noun The type of culture and society developed by a particular nation or region or in a particular epoch.
- noun The act or process of civilizing or reaching a civilized state.
- noun Cultural or intellectual refinement; good taste.
- noun Modern society with its conveniences.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun The act of civilizing, or the state of being civilized; the state of being reclaimed from the rudeness of savage life, and advanced in arts and learning.
- noun The act of rendering a criminal process civil. Also spelled
civilisation .
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun The act of civilizing, or the state of being civilized; national culture; refinement.
- noun (Law), obsolete Rendering a criminal process civil.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun An
organized culture encompassing manycommunities , often on the scale of anation or apeople ; a stage or system of social, political, or technical development. - noun uncountable Human society, particularly
civil society. - noun The act or process of
civilizing or becomingcivilized . - noun The state or quality of being
civilized . - noun obsolete The act of rendering a criminal process civil.
- proper noun Collectively, those people 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 , assavages orbarbarians . cfrefinement ,elitism , civilised society, the Civilised World
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun the quality of excellence in thought and manners and taste
- noun a particular society at a particular time and place
- noun a society in an advanced state of social development (e.g., with complex legal and political and religious organizations)
- noun the social process whereby societies achieve an advanced stage of development and organization
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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I add further, _that slavery anticipates the benefits of civilization, and retards the evils of civilization_.
Cotton is King, and Pro-Slavery Arguments Comprising the Writings of Hammond, Harper, Christy, Stringfellow, Hodge, Bledsoe, and Cartrwright on This Important Subject E. N. [Editor] Elliott
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I prize highly the advantages of civilization, and the blessings of civil and religious liberty; but never shall a vote of mine be given to encourage unjust invasion and conquest on the pretext of pushing civilization, or to carry the Bible with the sword, so that rapacity may call its crimes the diffusion of Christianity.
On the Zulu War 1906
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The real cure for the evils of civilization would appear to be _more civilization_, or, better, perhaps, _higher_ civilization.
Preventable Diseases Woods Hutchinson 1896
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First off the term civilization involves a complex arrangement made by us, these social large brained apes.
If Aliens Decided to Destroy Humanity, Could We Blame Them? Sean 2008
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The most important and the dearest phase of human experience must come, of course, through its religious beliefs, and as they are narrow and superstitious, on the one hand, or grand with faith and understanding of law, on the other, do we judge of the status of the individual, the community, and the race; and the advances made upon this line mark the progress of what we term civilization on this planet.
Insights and Heresies Pertaining to the Evolution of the Soul Anna Bishop Scofield
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It was not to build a new civilization-our culture and our civilization is simply a transplanted culture and a transplanted civilization from the Old Country, and to us England means what it does to you.
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And as culture is a threefold devotion to beauty, goodness, and truth, so the term civilization expresses the same threefold religion, shown on a larger scale in the characters, institutions, and customs of nations.
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 10: Mass Music-Newman 1840-1916 1913
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The meaning attached by many to the term civilization is extremely vague and indefinite, and it is certainly an intangible thing, which vanishes when individuals become isolated in a new region, where it does not exist.
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Among academics, the word "civilization" has long had a sinister ring to it, carrying associations of elitism and luxury.
Hidden Treasure Henrik Bering 2011
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"I imagined it was going to be equally funny to watch them get back to what they call civilization."
Jersey Shore Cast Previews Most Controversial Season Yet — In Italy 2011
oroboros commented on the word civilization
Over in city park, one of the local philosophers mused, "Things could be different if man's 'man-made-world' was actually made by man.
--Jan Cox
July 6, 2007
reesetee commented on the word civilization
It is better for civilization to be going down the drain than to be coming up it. --Henry Allen
October 3, 2007
sakhalinskii commented on the word civilization
"Man - despite his artistic pretensions, his sophistication, and his many accomplishments - owes his existence to a six inch layer of topsoil and the fact that it rains." - Author unknown
July 30, 2008