civilizationn.
/ˌsɪvl̩ʌɪˈzeɪʃn/, /ˌsɪvᵻlʌɪˈzeɪʃn/, U.S. /ˌsɪvələˈzeɪʃən/, /ˌsɪvəˌlaɪˈzeɪʃən/ 1. The action or process of civilizing or becoming civilized; (also) the action or process of being made civilized by an external force.
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society > society and the community > customs, values, and civilization > civilization > [noun] > civilizing
civilizing1611
civilization1656
reclamation1750
debarbarization1848
1656 W. Montagu tr. J. Du Bosc Accomplish'd Woman 83 The divine curiosity of Philosophers, and good wits..hath taught us more morality, civility, policy, and what is usefull to the civilization of our lives.
1679 J. Davies Polit. & Mil. Observ. clxxxviii. 112 The present Statesmen consulted the directions of the Ancients, who have been eminent for the good Government and civilization of such as were subject to them.
1706 A. Snape Serm. preach'd before Princess Sophia 18 For the same person to pretend that the World had no Beginning, and yet that the Civilization of Mankind had, is apparent contradiction.
?1798 B. Stout Narr. Loss of Ship Hercules ix. 111 The [African] natives are to become objects of British civilization.
1842 R. H. Bonnycastle Newfoundland II. xiv. 264 In 1827, a society was formed in St. John's, called the Bœothic Society for the Civilization of the Native Savages.
1879 M. Arnold Mixed Ess. Pref. 6 Civilisation is the humanisation of man in society.
1900 Canterbury Old & New 177 [Maori art] is a vigorous, earnest expression of the minds of the people before their ‘civilization’ commenced.
1919 Moravian Messenger Apr. 27/1 We cannot be sure that the Red Terror may not sweep beyond the confines of the land from which it sprang and swiftly submerge the slow civilization of centuries.
1989 A. Aird 1990 Good Pub Guide Introd. 7 All-day opening is clearly accelerating the trend towards the civilisation of pubs.
2007 D. Euraque in D. J. Davis Beyond Slavery iv. 97 The curator would also appoint guardians for the ‘moral instruction’ and civilization of the Indians.
2. Law.† a. The action or an act of turning a criminal case or process into a civil one. Cf. civil adj. 12. Obsolete. rare.Apparently only attested in dictionaries or glossaries.
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society > law > branch of the law > [noun] > civil or Roman law > assimilation to
civilization1728
1728 E. Chambers Cycl. (at cited word) Civilisation, a Law, Act of Justice, or a Judgement, which renders a Criminal Process, Civil. Civilisation is perform'd by turning the Information into an Inquest, or vice versa.
b. An assimilation of features of civil law (civil law n. 1) into common law. rare.
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1812 T. Jefferson Let. 17 June in Papers (2008) Retirement Ser. V. 135 Getting us rid of all Mansfield's innovations, or civilisations of the Common law.
2003 Amer. Jrnl. Compar. Law 51 619 All that occurred here was a ‘civilization’ of the common law.
3.
a. The state or condition of being civilized; human cultural, social, and intellectual development when considered to be advanced and progressive in nature. Also in extended use.
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society > society and the community > customs, values, and civilization > civilization > [noun]
police1530
civility1531
civilization1760
snivelization1849
civilizedness1878
kultur1914
1760 J. Gordon New Estimate Manners & Princ. iii. v. 87 If all mankind arrived at an equal, or even a tolerable degree of civilization..what would it signify, where one was born, or of what particular district one became a citizen?
1767 A. Ferguson Ess. Hist. Civil Society i. 2 Not only the individual advances from infancy to manhood, but the species itself from rudeness to civilization.
1790 E. Burke Refl. Revol. in France 117 Our manners, our civilization, and all the good things which are connected with manners, and with civilization. View more context for this quotation
1805 J. Turnbull Voy. round World I. 43 The natives of New Holland..have gained nothing in civilization since their first discovery.
1813 Minutes of Evid. Affairs E. India Company 131 in Parl. Papers 1812–13 (H.C. 122) VII. 1 The Hindoos are not inferior to the nations of Europe; and if civilization is to become an article of trade between the two countries, I am convinced that this country will gain by the import cargo.
1857 H. T. Buckle Hist. Civilisation Eng. I. viii. 500 In the progress of civilization, the scope of the intellect is widened; its horizon is enlarged.
1874 J. Lubbock Orig. & Metamorphoses Insects i. 13 Some communities of ants are more advanced in civilization than others.
1909 Yale Law Jrnl. 18 355 Courts may extend the application of common law rules to the new conditions of advancing civilization.
1941 W. S. Churchill in Penal Reformer Jan. (title page) The mood and temper of the public with regard to the treatment of crime and criminals is one of the most unfailing tests of the civilization of any country.
1974 G. Grosvenor in J. Billard World of Amer. Indian Foreword 9 The Indian has been type-cast as a primitive barbarian impeding civilization's march.
2007 Independent 8 Feb. 33/4 A hangover from the days when the white man believed it was his mission to bring civilisation and its values to the world.
b. With modifying word. The culture, society, and way of life of a particular country, region, epoch, or group.
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society > society and the community > customs, values, and civilization > a civilization or culture > [noun]
civility1531
civilization1767
culture1860
1767 Ess. Perfecting Fine Arts 30 Henry VIII and Francis I were contemporaries. Their kingdoms were then much about the same state of Gothick civilization.
1787 G. Stewart Reflections II. 129 An epoch in the history of modern European civilization.
1827 T. Carlyle in Edinb. Rev. Oct. 306 The three great elements of modern civilization, Gunpowder, Printing, and the Protestant Religion.
1857 H. T. Buckle Hist. Civilisation Eng. I. ii. 45 The seat of Egyptian civilization.
1880 W. B. Dawkins Early Man in Brit. i. 5 The lower Neolithic civilisation, characterised by the use of polished stone.
1908 Pall Mall Gaz. 27 Mar. 2/1 In the earlier days of Islamic civilisation the claustration of women did not in the least imply their ignorance.
1944 D. F. Malan in Star 25 Jan. To ensure the safety of the white race and of Christian civilisation by the honest maintenance of the principles of apartheid and guardianship.
1966 ‘E. Lindall’ Time too Soon (1967) iii. 26 Waiting for ships to come sailing from America laden with all the luxuries and gee-gaws of white civilisation.
2002 Sun 27 Mar. 8/4 Their obsession with fox hunting instead of protecting Western civilisation from the threat of Saddam Hussein demonstrates their lack of touch.
c. A particular culture, society, and way of life as characteristic of a community of people; (also) a civilized society.
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1811 J. Black tr. A. von Humboldt Polit. Ess. New Spain II. viii. 302 Gila, the centre of an ancient civilization of the Americans.
1857 H. T. Buckle Hist. Civilisation Eng. I. ii. 45 The seat of Egyptian civilization; a civilization which..forms a striking contrast to the barbarism of the other nations of Africa.
1857 H. T. Buckle Hist. Civilisation Eng. I. ii. 46 The civilization of Europe..has shown a capacity of development unknown to those civilizations which were originated by soil.
1875 A. Helps Social Pressure iii. 42 The more advanced the civilization, the less powerful is the individual.
1925 G. K. Chesterton Everlasting Man i. ii. 43 It is in every way probable that the primitive civilisations were civilisations.
1949 S. J. Perelman Let. 2 Feb. in Don't tread on Me (1987) 85 It is a pretty depressing thought that the peculiar two-dimensional, neon civilization of Southern California..should have been transplanted so completely to the Pacific Islands.
1955 Astounding Sci. Fiction Jan. 89/2 After a million years or so of bashing in each other's brains..the human animal had finally achieved a fairly uniform, stable, planet-wide civilization.
1984 D. Hill Hist. Engin. Classical & Medieval Times ii. 19 From the second century bc until about the beginning of the first century ad the Nabataeans produced a flourishing civilisation in southern Palestine and Jordan.
2004 Independent 8 Mar. 12/3 We kow-tow more and more to the mass appeal. We have become a civilisation in rapid cultural decline.
d. The comfort and convenience of modern life, as found in towns and cities; populated or urban areas in general.
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1825 Marquis of Normanby Yes & No I. iv. 36 After driving through many miles of this depopulated desert, he arrived at the gate of Rockington Castle. No softening symptoms of return to civilization had marked his approach.
1839 C. A. Murray Trav. N. Amer. I. x. 142 The continual recurrence of coal-smoke and steam-engines reminded us of our return to civilization.
1870 Harper's Mag. Sept. 566/2 It was such a blessed relief to take out this picture, which carried me straight back to civilization and home.
1903 Rev. of Reviews Apr. 385/2 The Englishman got back to civilization minus his left arm.
1978 Audubon Sept. 86/2 At the edge of the boreal forest, removed from civilization, stood an abandoned inn.
2001 Ski Feb. 56/2 First-timers often underestimate the long slog back to civilization, only to run out of steam or daylight before the round-trip is completed.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, November 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1656- stone-binder
- stone-bird
- stone-biter
- stone-bladed
- stone-blind
- stone-blindness
- stone-blue
- stone-boat
- stone-boiler
- stone-boiling
- stone-borer
- stone-bow
- stone-brake
- stone-brash
- stone-breaker
- stone-breaking
- stone-bright
- stone-brod
- stone-broke
- stone-brown
- stone-bruised
- stone-buckle
- stone-buff
- stone-builder
- stone-built