Civilisations

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Organized and advanced human societies characterized by culture, law, and technology ; the level or stage of social and cultural advancement achieved by a group of people
2. Human communities with developed arts, governance, and social structures ; the phase representing the progress of societies in complexity and culture
3. Highly developed social groups with established norms, institutions, and technology ; the degree of societal development and cultural sophistication reached by people

Etymology: "Civilisations" is simply the plural of "civilisation," so its history is that of the singular noun. English borrowed "civilisation" from French, where it was formed from "civiliser," meaning to bring a people out of savagery into settled, law-governed life, and the suffix "-ation" that turns an action into a state or result. The French verb itself rests on the Latin "civilis," relating to citizens and the affairs of a city, which in turn comes from "civis," a citizen. The core idea is therefore a community of citizens living by shared rules, set against rough or wild existence. That sense of contrast is built into the word from the start, which is why it came to name a whole way of life rather than a single city.

Synonyms: cultures, societies, communities, civilizations, civil society

Antonyms: barbarism, savagery, uncivilized, anarchy, chaos