Citizenship

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈsɪtɪzənʃɪp/

Definitions

1. The legal recognition of an individual's membership in a state, encompassing associated rights, obligations, and the engagement in civic duties within the community
2. The status granted by a country to individuals, which includes certain rights and responsibilities along with participation in governance and civic life
3. The official status given to a person by a nation, granting rights such as voting and duties like obeying laws

Etymology: The word is built from "citizen" plus the suffix "-ship", which in Old English meant a state or condition, as in "friendship" or "hardship." Its older English counterpart was "burgrǣden," a compound of "burg" (borough, a fortified town) and "-rǣden," a suffix meaning condition or rule. So for centuries the English idea of belonging to a community was expressed through the town rather than the nation. "Citizen" itself came into English from Anglo-Norman through Old French, where it was tied to the inhabitants of a city. That urban origin is why the older Old English term had been built around the borough. When "citizenship" replaced "burgrǣden," the idea of membership moved from the walls of a town to the wider political community, and the word now means legal membership of a nation.

Synonyms: nationality, status, membership, belonging, residency

Antonyms: alienage, exile, statelessness, disloyalty, noncitizenship