Definition of CIVILIZE

civilize

Verb

Verb Forms: civilized, civilizing, civilizes

  • To bring to a state of social and cultural development.
  • teach or refine to be discriminative in taste or judgment
  • raise from a barbaric to a civilized state
    • "The wild child found wandering in the forest was gradually civilized"
  • American and Oxford British standard spelling of civilise.

Examples

  • It took years of practice to CIVILIZE his wild, vowel-heavy racks into playable words.

Origin / Etymology

Borrowed from French civiliser, corresponding to civil + -ize.

Scrabble Score: 22

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

Words With Friends Score: 25

civilize: valid Words With Friends Word