civilian
/sɪˈvɪlj(ə)n
/noun
1A person not in the armed services or the police force: terrorists and soldiers have killed tens of thousands of civilians...
- Eight more police and two civilians died when their vehicles ran over mines.
- The awards are made to civilians and police officers who put their lives at risk to save others.
- People were brutally assaulted by police, and by civilians who acted in collusion to them.
Synonyms
non-military person, non-combatant, ordinary citizen, private citizen
informal civvy
1.1 informal A person who is not a member of a particular profession or group, as viewed by a member of that group: I talk to a lot of actresses and they say that civilians are scared of them...
- There's a wonderful passage in Michael Tolin's book, ‘The Player’, in which the titular Hollywood executive Griffin Mill waxes venomous about ‘civilians’.
- Like a family —or a cult—AA has its own language, recognizable only to initiates. People who aren't in AA are known as civilians.
- Do famous people have to go out with other famous people? 'No, the girl I'm seeing now is a civilian.'
adjective
Relating to civilians: civilian clothes...
- We have an ethical duty to avoid civilian casualties wherever possible.
- Counterfeit papers and civilian clothes were produced for use by escapees.
- Most soldiers mix the uniform with civilian clothes because items are out of stock.
Synonyms
non-military, non-combatant, civil
informal civvy
Origin
Late Middle English (denoting a practitioner of civil law): from Old French civilien, in the phrase droit civilien 'civil law'. The current sense arose in the early 19th century.