Definition of CITIZEN

citizen

Plural: citizens

Noun

  • An inhabitant of a city or a legal member of a state.
  • a native or naturalized member of a state or other political community
  • A resident of a city or town, especially one with legally recognized rights or duties.
  • A legally recognized member of a state, with associated rights and obligations; a person considered in terms of this role.
  • An inhabitant or occupant: a member of any place.
  • A resident of the heavenly city or (later) of the kingdom of God: a Christian; a good Christian.
  • A civilian, as opposed to a police officer, soldier, or member of some other specialized (usually state) group.
  • An ordinary person, as opposed to nobles and landed gentry on one side and peasants, craftsmen, and laborers on the other.
  • A term of address among supporters of the French Revolution in France or elsewhere; (later, dated) a term of address among socialists and communists.
  • A notional inhabitant of a software system; an object or a software application.

Examples

  • Diogenes reckoned himself a citizen of the world.
  • Every tile on the Scrabble board felt like a CITIZEN, waiting for its place in a word.

Origin / Etymology

From Middle English citeseyn, citezein, borrowed from Anglo-Norman citesain (“burgher; city-dweller”), citezein, etc., probably a variant of cithein under influence of deinzein (“denizen”), from Anglo-Norman and Old French citeain, etc. and citaien, citeien, etc. ("burgher"; modern French citoyen), from cité ("settlement; cathedral city, city"; modern French cité) + -ain or -ien (“-an, -ian”). See city and hewe.

Antonyms

noncitizen, alien, country gentleman, countryfolk, countryman, foreigner, illegal, illegal alien, outsider, peasant, stranger, villager

Scrabble Score: 18

citizen: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Word
citizen: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
citizen: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 20

citizen: valid Words With Friends Word