civilian

American  

[si-vil-yuhn] / sɪˈvɪl yən /

noun

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.

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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

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Other Word Forms

• anticivilian adjective
• noncivilian noun
• procivilian adjective

Etymology

Origin of civilian

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

Example Sentences

Defense contracts are now helping finance AI, quantum computing and drone technologies—all with big potential across the civilian economy.

From The Wall Street Journal

Mr. Buruma resists glib post hoc censure, acknowledging that German civilians “lived in constant fear of their own government.”

From The Wall Street Journal

There was no immediate comment from the Kremlin, which claims its forces do not target civilians.

From Barron's

The company supplies fuel to civilian airlines and United Nations aircraft.

From Barron's

"My guess is that this was an effort to just see if the militia could muster. These are civilians, these are not the professional militia in the South China Sea, they're fishermen," he said.

From Barron's

Related Words

• citizen
• noncombatant