What does civilise mean?
To civilise is to move a person, group, or society from a state regarded as uncultured or barbarous toward one marked by order, learning, and refined conduct. The word has two main senses: a broad historical one, in which nations or empires claimed to bring law, education, and polite customs to peoples they deemed 'primitive', and a narrower everyday one, meaning to polish someone's manners or tame rough behaviour. Because of its long association with colonialism, the first sense can sound dated or patronising in modern writing, while the second is often used humorously — as when friends claim a partner has finally 'civilised' them. Spelled with an s in British English and with a z ('civilize') in American English, the word derives from the Latin civilis, meaning 'of a citizen', which also gives us civil, civilian, and civic — a reminder that being civilised once meant, quite literally, living like a citizen of a well-ordered city.
verbTo civilise a person or society is to bring it out of a state seen as primitive or barbarous and towards social refinement, education, and ordered cultural development; more generally, to make someone's behaviour more polite, gentle, or socially acceptable.
- To bring a people or society out of a perceived state of barbarism into an ordered, cultured condition through education, laws, and refined customs.
- To improve someone's manners or behaviour, making them more polite or socially acceptable.
"The Romans set out to civilise the tribes of northern Europe, building roads, baths, and schools wherever they settled."
"Victorian reformers believed that education could civilise even the roughest of the urban poor."
"Years abroad had thoroughly civilised him; he now wrote thank-you notes unprompted."
'Civilise' carries the same Latin root as 'citizen' — to be civilised originally meant to be made city-like, fit for life among townspeople rather than tribesmen.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of civilise
The verb civilise entered English in the late sixteenth or early seventeenth century, formed from the adjective civil, which itself comes from Latin civilis, meaning 'relating to citizens or civic life', from civis, 'citizen'. The suffix -ise marks it as a verb of action, so to civilise was literally to render someone citizen-like or city-bred. Its close relatives include civil, civilian, civility, and civilization, all drawing on the same Latin root, and it remains closely tied to the noun civilisation, whose rise in eighteenth-century Enlightenment thought gave the verb much of its modern ideological weight.
Related word forms
How civilise is actually used
This spelling is standard in British English; American English uses 'civilize'. The word often carries colonial connotations when used in its first sense, since claims about who needed 'civilising' were historically tied to imperial ideology; writers today may prefer terms like 'develop' or 'educate' for that reason. In its second sense — improving manners — the word is usually light-hearted or gently ironic.
Easily confused with civilise
Civilize is simply the American spelling of the same word, while civilise is the British spelling — they mean exactly the same thing.