citizen
nouncommon in dialogue
- United Kingdom//ˈsɪtɪzən//
- United States//ˈsɪtɪzən//
- United States//ˈsɪtɪsən//
A resident of a city or town, especially one with legally recognized rights or duties.
noun
- 1
A resident of a city or town, especially one with legally recognized rights or duties.
[T]hat large body of the working men who were not counted as citizens and had not so much as a vote to serve as an anodyne to their stomachs were likely to get impatient.
- 2
A legally recognized member of a state, with associated rights and obligations; a person considered in terms of this role.
I am a Roman citizen.
Assistant: You'll meet with the managing director and Dr Sinita Brahmachari, the engineer who designed the chair. Peter Mackenzie: Indian, is he? Assistant: She is a British citizen, Minister. Born in Coventry.
Libertarian paternalism is the view that, because the way options are presented to citizens affects what they choose, society should present options in a way that “nudges” our intuitive selves to make choices that are more consistent with what our more deliberative selves would have chosen if they were in control.
He is also a citizen of Antigua, because he purchased a home – where he now resides with his family.
- 3
An inhabitant or occupant: a member of any place.
Diogenes reckoned himself a citizen of the world.
A jellyfish... carries poison cells that can sting other citizens of the sea.
- 4
A resident of the heavenly city or (later) of the kingdom of God: a Christian; a good Christian.
- 5
A civilian, as opposed to a police officer, soldier, or member of some other specialized (usually state) group.
- 6
obsoleteAn ordinary person, as opposed to nobles and landed gentry on one side and peasants, craftsmen, and laborers on the other.
[W]ould Mr. Delvile, who hardly ever spoke but to the high-born, without seeming to think his dignity somewhat injured, deign to receive for a daughter in law the child of a citizen and tradesman?
- 7
historicalA term of address among supporters of the French Revolution in France or elsewhere; (later, dated) a term of address among socialists and communists.
Citizen, I desire nothing more than to get to Paris, though I could dispense with the escort.
- 8
figurativeA notional inhabitant of a software system; an object or a software application.
The HIG delivers Apple's design commandments, the company's definition of what it means to be a good iPhone citizen.
Etymology
From Middle English citeseyn (“inhabitant of a city or town”), citezein, citisein, from Anglo-Norman citesain (“city-dweller, town-dweller”), citesein, citezein, alteration of citeien from cite (“city”) + -ien (“-ain”) (probable variant of cithein perhaps influenced by dainzain (“denizen”), deinzein), from Old French cite (“city”) + -ien (whence French citoyen), from earlier citet, from Latin civitatem, citatem, from civis. See also city. Displaced native Old English burhsittend and Old English ceasterware.
Forms
- plural
- citizens
citizen · A resident of a city or town, especially one with legally recognized rights or duties.
Citizen · A personal Title denoting citizenship, implicitly of the…citizenship · The state of being a citizen; the status of a citizen.city · A large settlement, bigger than a town; sometimes with a…