How to spell civilian

hear itci·vil·ian/sɪ'vɪljən/nounPrefixes and work

What it means: A person who is not in the military.

In a sentence: The kind firefighter helped a lost civilian find their way home.

The part people get wrong

Watch for an unstressed vowel that is hard to hear. Often misspelled as civillian or civillian.

Same family: civil, civility, civilize, civilization, civilianize. If you can spell one, the shared part carries to the others.

Where it comes from: “Civilian” comes from the Latin word “civilis,” meaning “relating to a citizen.” It originally referred to people who studied civil (non‑church) law and later came to mean anyone who is not part of the military.

Patterns it uses: The unstressed vowel (schwa)

Try spelling it

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