Civilizes

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Brings a society or group to a more developed and culturally advanced state
2. Transforms a community by encouraging manners, laws, and cultural growth
3. Develops social order and cultural sophistication within a group or area

Etymology: "Civilizes" is simply the third-person singular present form of "civilize," so its history is that of the verb. "Civilize" was borrowed from French "civiliser," which is built from "civil" and the verbal ending "-ize," a suffix that turns a noun or adjective into a verb meaning to make or cause something to be a certain way. The base "civil" traces back to Latin "civilis," meaning relating to citizens, and by extension to a community's way of organizing life. The notable thread here is that the root idea is political rather than refined. "Civil" originally concerned the citizen and the city, so to civilize was, at its core, to bring people into an orderly community with its laws and customs. The sense of polished manners and culture grew out of that picture of urban life, where good conduct was what city dwellers were expected to show. The word's earliest English uses leaned toward this same sense of moving a people or place out of a rougher state and into settled society.

Synonyms: refines, educates, cultivates

Antonyms: barbarizes, savagizes