What does civilize mean?
To civilize is to bring a person, people, or place into a state regarded as cultured, orderly, and refined. In its broadest historical sense, it meant lifting a society out of conditions considered savage or barbarous by introducing law, education, organized government, and the arts — an idea closely tied to European colonial expansion, where the phrase "civilizing mission" justified imperial rule and is now viewed critically as paternalistic. In everyday modern usage, the verb more often applies to manners: parents civilize their children, a finishing school civilized young ladies, and a shared lunch can civilize an otherwise tense office meeting. This second sense is frequently light or humorous in tone. Related forms include the adjective "civilized," the noun "civilization," and the noun "civilizer." Writers should be mindful of the word's colonial connotations in discussions of whole societies, while feeling free to use it playfully about etiquette.
verbTo bring a people or place out of a state considered savage, primitive, or barbarous by introducing organized society, education, law, and refined manners; also, more generally, to make someone or something more polite, cultured, or socially acceptable.
- To raise a people or society from a state regarded as primitive or barbarous to one with organized government, law, education, and culture.
- To improve someone's manners, behavior, or refinement — to make them more polished or socially acceptable.
"Missionaries and administrators alike claimed it was their duty to civilize the remote villages of the interior."
"Victorian reformers believed that education could civilize even the most unruly corners of the industrial city."
"Two years of boarding school had done little to civilize her rough-mannered cousins."
The word "civilize" was born in an age when European powers used it to justify empire — making it one of English's most morally loaded verbs.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of civilize
Civilize derives from the Latin civis, meaning "citizen," through the adjective civilis, "relating to citizens or civic life." It entered English in the early seventeenth century, likely via French civiliser, during a period when thinkers were debating what separated polished society from supposed barbarism. Its cognates all trace back to that same civic root: civil, civilian, civility, and civilization, which followed shortly after as the noun form of the process civilize described.
Related word forms
How civilize is actually used
In its first sense the verb carries strong historical baggage: phrases like the "civilizing mission" are now widely criticized as colonialist language, so careful writers often prefer neutral terms such as "develop" or "educate" when discussing societies. The second sense — improving manners or behavior — is common, often mildly humorous or affectionate. The British spelling is "civilise"; American spelling is "civilize."
Easily confused with civilize
Civilise is simply the British spelling of the same word; civilize is standard in American English, with no difference in meaning.