civilise

Other spellings

• (US) civilize

Pronunciation

• IPA ^(key): /ˈsɪvɪlaɪz/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: civ‧il‧ise

Verb

Plain form civilise

Third-person singular civilises

Past tense civilised

Past participle civilised

Present participle civilising

1. (transitive) When you civilise someone, you educate that person on how to have a higher standard of behaviour.

   Our teacher civilised us today, stressing the importance of respecting others.

Related words

• civil
• civilisation/civilization
• uncivilised/uncivilized