Civilize

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To bring a society or group from a state of perceived cultural development into a more advanced stage of social organization, refinement, and adherence to established norms of behavior and institution
2. To transform an uncultured or primitive society into one that exhibits progressive social structures, cultural refinement, and accepted moral standards of conduct
3. To change a community or population that lacks social refinement into a more sophisticated, orderly society that values established norms and institutions

Etymology: The verb "civilize" carries a faint whiff of its own history: it is built from the adjective "civil," which once meant "belonging to a citizen" and, in the older sense, "of or relating to the state." So to civilize a people was originally to bring them into the life of a city or organised state, a meaning that the Latin root "civilis" already held. English took the verb from French "civiliser," and the "-ize" ending is the Greek-derived suffix that turns a noun or adjective into a verb meaning "to make or become." The word is therefore a neat piece of double borrowing: a Latin stem ("civis," citizen) passed through French into English, with the English suffix attached along the way. Its core idea, that civility is something one group can bestow on another, is built into the grammar. The verb says that civilization is an action performed on people, rather than a state they simply possess.

Synonyms: cultivate, educate, refine, enlighten, humanize

Antonyms: barbarize, savage, dehumanize, uncivilize, ignorance