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

Pro-military politicians won a landslide and in April elected Min Aung Hlaing as civilian president.

From Barron's • Jul. 10, 2026

"I would never intentionally murder an innocent civilian woman."

From BBC • Jul. 9, 2026

The idea was to embed prevention specialists within targeting teams and foster a culture that prioritizes civilian security in accordance with U.S. law and international rules of war.

From Salon • Jul. 7, 2026

Artificial-intelligence systems and chips designed for civilian use are increasingly being deployed both on the battlefield and in military headquarters.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jul. 6, 2026

For the rest of the war, he served essentially as a senior civilian advisor and administrator.

From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield

Related Words

• citizen
• noncombatant