civilization
/ˌsɪvɪlʌɪˈzeɪʃ(ə)n
/(also civilisation)
noun [mass noun]
1The stage of human social development and organization which is considered most advanced: the Victorians equated the railways with progress and civilization...
- The development of human civilisation is intimately bound up with the domestication of cereals.
- These factors, far from being narrow technical issues, capture the essence of social evolution and advanced civilization.
- The evolution of civilisation and social organisation that checks and regulates the lust for revenge and other such instincts compel one to answer in the affirmative.
Synonyms
human development, advancement, progress, enlightenment, edification, culture, cultivation, refinement, sophistication
1.1The process by which a society or place reaches an advanced stage of social development and organization.The process of civilization not only brought improved individual self-control but also a change of attitudes and values....
- Scholars began to discuss civilization as a unilinear process with races able to ascend or descend a graduated scale.
- On the contrary, in every organic process, the antitheses always reflect a unified totality, and civilization is an organic process.
1.2The society, culture, and way of life of a particular area: the great books of Western civilization [count noun]: the early civilizations of Mesopotamia and Egypt...
- Mazes and a range of labyrinth designs are found all around the world in many cultures and civilizations.
- The ancient Mayan civilization was very advanced and had a sophisticated knowledge of science, art, and astronomy.
- I think western civilization is built on three fundamental and interlocking principles that form the Western world view.
Synonyms
culture, customs, mores, way of life, attainments, achievements;
society, nation, people, community
1.3The comfort and convenience of modern life, regarded as available only in towns and cities: in the UK nowhere is very far from civilization...
- Yet as we rejoin modern civilisation in the city of Newcastle, this is not the final impression we are left with of our trip.
- Some are remote from modern civilisation, others survive cheek by jowl with spreading towns and motorways.
- Most come from rural backgrounds and are poorly educated, handicaps for anyone who wants to get ahead in the modern urban-commercial civilisation.