verb ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Verb

1. 1
   To educate or enlighten a person or people to a perceived higher standard of behaviour.
2. 2
   raise from a barbaric to a civilized state wordnet
3. 3
   To introduce or impose the standards of one civilisation upon another civilization, group or person, arguably with the intent of achieving a perceived higher standard of behavior.
4. 4
   teach or refine to be discriminative in taste or judgment wordnet
5. 5
   To bring from a state of savagery to an educated or refined state.

Synonyms

All synonyms

civilizecivilizecultivateeducateeducateschool

Example

More examples

"Europeans tried to civilise the tribe."

Etymology

From civil + -ise.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.