Citizenry

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A collective body of residents within a state or nation who possess legal rights and responsibilities to that community
2. A body of individuals recognized as legal members of a nation or community, holding certain rights and fulfilling responsibilities within that society
3. A group of individuals belonging to a political entity or nation, who are afforded specific rights and are expected to observe particular duties within that community

Etymology: "Citizenry" is a plain formation: "citizen" with the collective suffix "-ry," the same ending found in "peasantry" and "gentry." The suffix gathers individuals into a body, so the word names the whole body of citizens taken together rather than any one member. The more surprising detail is what it replaced. English once had "burgwaru," an Old English word built from "burg" (a fortified town) and "waru" (inhabitants, dwellers), meaning roughly the people of a town. That native term was displaced by the borrowed "citizen" and its collective form, so the everyday word for a community of townsfolk today is a French-derived one rather than the old English compound.

Synonyms: population, inhabitants, residents, community, citizens

Antonyms: foreigners, noncitizens, aliens, outsiders, strangers