What does civilize mean?

Definitions for civilize
ˈsɪv əˌlaɪzciv·i·lize

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word civilize.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. educate, school, train, cultivate, civilize, civiliseverb

    teach or refine to be discriminative in taste or judgment

    "Cultivate your musical taste"; "Train your tastebuds"; "She is well schooled in poetry"

  2. civilize, civiliseverb

    raise from a barbaric to a civilized state

    "The wild child found wandering in the forest was gradually civilized"

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. To Civilizeverb

    To reclaim from savageness and brutality; to instruct in the arts of regular life.

    Etymology: from civil.

    We send the graces and the muses forth,
    To civilize and to instruct the North. Edmund Waller.

    Musæus first, then Orpheus civilize
    Mankind, and gave the world their deities. John Denham.

    Amongst those who are counted the civilized part of mankind, this original law of nature still takes place. John Locke.

    Osiris, or the Bacchus of the antients, is reported to have civilized the Indians, and reigned amongst them fifty-two years. John Arbuthnot, on Coins.

Wikipedia

  1. civilize

    A civilization (or civilisation) is any complex society characterized by the development of the state, social stratification, urbanization, and symbolic systems of communication beyond natural spoken language (namely, a writing system).Civilizations are additionally characterized by specialization of labour, agriculture, architecture, infrastructure, technological advancement, taxation, and regulation.Historically, a civilization has often been understood as a larger and "more advanced" culture, in implied contrast to smaller, supposedly less advanced cultures. In this broad sense, a civilization contrasts with non-centralized tribal societies, including the cultures of nomadic pastoralists, Neolithic societies or hunter-gatherers; however, sometimes it also contrasts with the cultures found within civilizations themselves. Civilizations are organized densely-populated settlements divided into hierarchical social classes with a ruling elite and subordinate urban and rural populations, which engage in intensive agriculture, mining, small-scale manufacture and trade. Civilization concentrates power, extending human control over the rest of nature, including over other human beings.Civilization, as its etymology suggests, is a concept originally associated with towns and cities. The earliest emergence of civilizations is generally connected with the final stages of the Neolithic Revolution in West Asia, culminating in the relatively rapid process of urban revolution and state formation, a political development associated with the appearance of a governing elite.

ChatGPT

  1. civilize

    To civilize is to educate, enlighten, and refine a person or society, often by introducing them to a more advanced state of development, culture, manners, customs, rules, art, science, literature, and technology. It can also refer to the process of a society advancing and developing from a primitive or less sophisticated state.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Civilizeverb

    to reclaim from a savage state; to instruct in the rules and customs of civilization; to educate; to refine

  2. Civilizeverb

    to admit as suitable to a civilized state

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Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of civilize in Chaldean Numerology is: 9

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of civilize in Pythagorean Numerology is: 5

Examples of civilize in a Sentence

  1. F Scott:

    Either you think--or else others have to think for you and take power from you, pervert and discipline your natural tastes, civilize and sterilize you.

  2. F. Scott Fitzgerald:

    Either you think -- or else others have to think for you and take power from you, pervert and discipline your natural tastes, civilize and sterilize you.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

civilize#100000#179254#333333

Translations for civilize

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"civilize." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 25 Apr. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/civilize>.

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