civilian

American  

[si-vil-yuhn] / sɪˈvɪl jən /

noun

civilians plural

1. a person who is not on active duty with a military, naval, police, or fire fighting organization.

2. Informal. anyone regarded by members of a profession, interest group, society, etc., as not belonging; nonprofessional; outsider.

   We need a producer to run the movie studio, not some civilian from the business world.

3. a person versed in or studying Roman or civil law.

---

adjective

1. of, pertaining to, formed by, or administered by civilians.

civilian British  

/ sɪˈvɪljən /

noun

1. 1. a person whose primary occupation is civil or nonmilitary

   2. ( as modifier )

      civilian life

---

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• noncivilian
  noun
• anticivilian
  adjective
• procivilian
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• civilians
  plural

Etymology

Origin of civilian

1350–1400; Middle English: student of civil law < Old French civilien (adj.); see civil, -ian

Explanation

The most common meaning for civilian is simply someone who is not in the military. It can also refer to any object that is not military in origin — e.g., "civilian clothes" or "civilian life." The meaning of civilian as a non military person is a relatively new one, dating from the early 19th century. Before that it referred to the code of law that governed non-military life. In fact for hundreds of years a civilian was somebody who was a judge or otherwise an expert on the law that applied outside military courts. Because it comes originally from a French word, remember to spell it with only one "l," even though it sounds like it should have two.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

civilian civilians

There are also provisions for the handover of civilian authorities from Hamas to the national committee.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026

A tiler in civilian life, he has spent days rushing water and carrying hoses behind the firefighters beating back the blazes near his home in the beach resort of Lanton in southwest France.

From Barron's ● Jul. 30, 2026

He was abducted in neighbouring Kenya in 2024 and reappeared in Uganda, where he was brought before a military tribunal until the case was transferred to a civilian court.

From Barron's ● Jul. 30, 2026

McDonnell said the department was “looking for opportunities” to leverage technology such as AI to address the backlog, and suggested the possibility of redeploying civilian staff to the unit.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026

But Langley was a conclave of the worlds best aerodynamicists, the leading edge of the technology that was transforming not only the nature of war but civilian transportation and the economy.

From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly

"One of the storage facilities had been established inside a mosque in the northern Gaza Strip," it added, saying advance warnings were given to civilians.

From Barron's ● Jul. 29, 2026

A. Dirk Moses, the journal’s senior editor since 2011, argues it is useless to distinguish intentional killing of civilians from collateral damage caused by strikes against terrorists.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026

As the war expands, there’s been heightened concern about the infrastructure that civilians in neighboring countries rely on for water and power.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026

Israeli authorities say 37 Israeli soldiers and four civilians have been killed on both sides of the border during the conflict.

From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026

They would pick up South Vietnamese soldiers and civilians, and take them down to Saigon, to safety.

From "Boots on the Ground: America's War in Vietnam" by Elizabeth Partridge

Related Words

• citizen
• noncombatant