Etymology

Anglo-French, from Old French citezein (spelling alterated by influence of denizen), from Old French citeain, from cite, in medieval usage a cathedral town, but origininally meaning any settlement, regardless of size, from earlier citet, itself from Latin civitas "citizenship, community of citizens", from civis "townsman, citizen" from a Proto-Indo-European base *kei- "to lie, homestead."

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /ˈsɪt.ɪ.zən/, SAMPA: /"sIt.I.z@n/
• Audio (US) ^[?]

Noun

citizen (plural citizens)

1. A person that is a legally recognized as a member of a state, with associated rights and obligations.
   
   When the rebellion broke out, the United States promptly evacuated its citizens from the area.
   
   
2. (dated) A member of a state that is not a monarchy; used as antonym to subject.
3. A person that is a legally recognized resident of a city or town.
4. A resident of any particular place to which the subject feels to belong.
   
   Citizen of the World: The Life of Pierre Elliott Trudeau - a book written of the former Canadian prime minister by John English, 2007.
   
   
5. A civilian, as opposed to a soldier, police officer etc.

Synonyms

• burgher
• national

Antonyms

• alien
• illegal
• foreigner
• stranger
• subject

Derived terms

• citizeness
• citizenhood
• citizenish
• citizenly
• citizenry
• citizenship

This entry is from Wiktionary - Dictionary and thesaurus. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.