civilization

[siv-uh-luh-zey-shuh n]
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Examples
Word Origin

noun
1.
an advanced state of human society, in which a high level of culture, science, industry, and
government has been reached.
2.
those people or nations that have reached such a state.
3.
any type of culture, society, etc., of a specific place, time, or group:
Greek civilization.
4.
the act or process of civilizing, as by bringing out of a savage, uneducated, or unrefined state, or
of being civilized:
Rome's civilization of barbaric tribes was admirable.
5.
cultural refinement; refinement of thought and cultural appreciation:
The letters of Madame de Svign reveal her wit and civilization.
6.
cities or populated areas in general, as opposed to unpopulated or wilderness areas:
The plane crashed in the jungle, hundreds of miles from civilization.
7.
modern comforts and conveniences, as made possible by science and technology:
After a week in the woods, without television or even running water, the campers looked forward
to civilization again.

Origin of civilizationExpand
French

1765-1775

1765-75; < French civilisation; see civilize, -ation

Related formsExpand
civilizational, adjective
decivilization, noun
hypercivilization, noun
intercivilization, noun
overcivilization, noun

postcivilization, adjective
precivilization, noun
subcivilization, noun
supercivilization, noun

Word storyExpand
Civilization entered the English language in the mid-18th century with the meaning the act or
process of bringing out of a savage or uneducated state. In this preimperialistic age of
exploration, it was popular to view people from less-developed lands as barbaric and in great
need of cultural edification. As political scientist and historian Anthony Pagden wrote in a 1988
paper, 18th-century social theory held that a civilization was the optimum condition for all
mankind. He continued that only the civilized can know what it is to be civilized, pointing out
the implicit elitism of this concept. As imperialism boomed in the 19th century, this meaning
ofcivilization gained popularity, but today it is considered narrow-minded, except when used in a
historical context.
Once a nation, culture, or group of people has been brought out of the savage darkness into an
enlightened and advanced state, it becomes acivilization. This sense arose about the same time,
but without the imperialistic undertones attached to the original meaning of the word. When used
with a modifier, it refers to the civilization of a specific region (European civilization, French
civilization ), people ( Mayan civilization ), or period of time ( modern civilization ).
In the early 19th century, speakers of English started using civilization to mean cities or
populated areas in generalthat is, places where civilizations are located. This word is applied
as well to the comforts and conveniences associated with populated areas, so that today we might
use civilization to describe what we have left behind if we go camping in the wilderness and
have no cellphone coverage.

Related QuotationsExpand
We have allowed our civilization to outrun our culture; we have allowed our technology to
outdistance our theology and for this reason we find ourselves caught up with many problems.
Martin Luther King, Sermon at Temple Israel of Hollywood American Rhetoric(delivered February 26, 1965)

As lower individuals within a society perish by contact with a civilization to which they cannot
properly assimilate themselves, so lower races in some instances disappear by similar contact

with higher races whose diseases and physical vices prove too strong for them.
J. A. Hobson, Imperialism: A Study (1902)

The cities of the Roman Empire served as centers of Greco-Roman civilization, which spread to
the furthest reaches of the Mediterranean.
Marvin Perry, Margaret Jacob, Myrna Chase, Western Civilization: Ideas, Politics, and Society, Volume 2 (2009)

The mighty forces of steam and electricity were propelling civilization on its continuing
westward march.
Joseph M. Henning, Outposts of civilization: race, religion, and the formative years of American-Japanese
relations (2000)

[A]ll the good things which are connected with manners, and with civilization, havedepended
for ages upon two principlesthe spirit of a gentleman and the spirit of religion.
Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France, and on the Proceedings in certain Societies in London
relative to that Event (1790)

Civilization was an unknown quantity, whereas the jungle was familiar to himself and his
ancestors, and the fear transmitted by his ancestors was firmly emplanted in his mind.
Ellen Newbold La Motte, Civilization Civilization: Tales of the Orient (1919)
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, Random House, Inc. 2015.
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Examples from the Web for civilizationExpand

Contemporary Examples

On her way back to civilization in the spring of 1821 she fell and suffered severe bruising.
History's Most Memorable Mistress Ian McIntyre December 25, 2008

American civilization, broadly defined, will benefit from the fact that Stevens will depart
under a liberal president.
A Justice With Boundaries Tunku Varadarajan April 8, 2010

No poverty, no crises and no clashes of civilization or religion.

The Talibans Letter to Malala Yousafzai The Daily Beast July 16, 2013

On the contrary, Hebrew provides all Israeli citizens the keys to Jewishcivilization without
taking other keys away.
A Hebrew Democratic State for All Its Citizens Bernard Avishai October 2, 2013

The whole point of going native is that the familiar Western civilization is portrayed as
inauthentic, ugly, broken, flawed.

Who Died and Made You Khaleesi? Privilege, White Saviors, and the Elusive Male Feminist Who Doesnt Suck Arthur
Chu June 23, 2014

Historical Examples

His shafts were always aimed at that which passes for the highest in American civilization.
Knut Hamsun Hanna Astrup Larsen

As a matter of fact, "civilization" never remains long in the same spot.

Ancient Man Hendrik Willem van Loon

civilization has made but few marks on its far-flung plains.

The Red Year Louis Tracy

What, then, is civilization in the economy of the human animal?

Journal of an Expedition into the Interior of Tropical Australia Thomas Mitchell

He was a connecting link between barbarism and civilization.

The Puddleford Papers, H. H. Riley

British Dictionary definitions for civilizationExpand

civilization
/svlazen/
noun
1.
a human society that has highly developed material and spiritual resources and a complex
cultural, political, and legal organization; an advanced state in social development
2.
the peoples or nations collectively who have achieved such a state
3.
the total culture and way of life of a particular people, nation, region, or period: classical
civilization
4.
the process of bringing or achieving civilization
5.
intellectual, cultural, and moral refinement
6.
cities or populated areas, as contrasted with sparsely inhabited areas, deserts, etc
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Word Origin and History for civilizationExpand

n.
1704, "law which makes a criminal process civil," from civilize + -ation. Sense of "civilized
condition" first recorded 1772, probably from Frenchcivilisation, to be an opposite
to barbarity and a distinct word from civility. Sense of a particular human society in a civilized
condition, considered as a whole over time, is from 1857. Related: Civilizational.
Online Etymology Dictionary, 2010 Douglas Harper
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