English
civilization
Civilization comes from French civilisation.
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English civilization
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art: “Civilisation has imbued man's minds with false ideas of…”.
Lineage
- Frenchc. 1600–presentcivilisationWiktionary, English civilization
- Englishearliest quotation 1936civilizationWiktionary, English civilization. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art: “Civilisation has imbued man's minds with false ideas of…”
A compound of civil ‘civil’ + civiliser ‘to civilize’
Proto-Indo-European *ḱey- ‘to be lying down’
Proto-Italic *keiwis ‘society’
Latin ceivis
Latin cīvis ‘citizen’
Latin cīvīli
French civil ‘civil’
Proto-Indo-European *ḱey- ‘to be lying down’
Proto-Italic *keiwis ‘society’
Latin ceivis
Latin cīvis ‘citizen’
Latin cīvīli
French civil ‘civil’
French civiliser ‘to civilize’
Linked words
through French civilisation
Today it means
noun An organized culture encompassing many communities, often on the scale of a nation or a people; a stage or system of social, political, or technical development.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “civilization”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / French civilisation / civilization