# citizen
## English
### Alternative forms

* cytesin (obsolete)

### 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.

### Pronunciation

* (UK) IPA: /ˈsɪtɪzən/
* (US) IPA: /ˈsɪtɪzən/, /ˈsɪtɪsən/, /ˈsɪɾɪzən/, /ˈsɪɾɪsən/
* Audio (US):(file)

### Noun

citizen (plural citizens)
* A resident of a city or town, especially one with legally recognized rights or duties. [from 14th c.]
    Synonyms: burgess, burgher, cityite, freeman
    Hyponyms: citess, (female) citizeness
** 1862 July – 1863 August, George Eliot [pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], “What Florence was Thinking of”, in Romola. […], volume II, London: Smith, Elder and Co., […], published 1863, →OCLC, book II, page 180:[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.
* A legally recognized member of a state, with associated rights and obligations; a person considered in terms of this role. [from 14th c.]
** 1990, House of Cards, season 1, episode 4: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.
** 2012 January, Steven Sloman, “The Battle Between Intuition and Deliberation”, in American Scientist‎, volume 100, number 1, archived from the original on 8 January 2012, page 74: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.
** 2019 October 7, Kate Springer, “Passports for purchase: Open citizenship doors around the world”, in CNN‎:He is also a citizen of Antigua, because he purchased a home – where he now resides with his family.
    I am a Roman citizen.
    Synonyms: countryman, national
    Antonyms: alien, illegal alien, foreigner, (colloquial) illegal
    Hyponyms: first-class citizen, second-class citizen, third-class citizen, native, naturalized citizen, senior citizen, corporate citizen
* An inhabitant or occupant: a member of any place. [from 14th c.]
    Diogenes reckoned himself a citizen of the world.
** 1979 October, Boys' Life, page 33:A jellyfish... carries poison cells that can sting other citizens of the sea.
    Synonyms: denizen, local, inhabitant, native, occupant, resident
    Antonyms: alien, outsider, stranger
* (Christianity) A resident of the heavenly city or (later) of the kingdom of God: a Christian; a good Christian. [from 15th c.]
* A civilian, as opposed to a police officer, soldier, or member of some other specialized (usually state) group. [from 16th c.]
* (obsolete) An ordinary person, as opposed to nobles and landed gentry on one side and peasants, craftsmen, and laborers on the other. [17th–19th c.]
** 1782, Frances Burney, Cecilia, III.v.6:[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?
* (now historical, usually capitalized) A term of address among French citizens during the French Revolution or towards its supporters elsewhere; (later, dated) a term of address among socialists and communists. [from 18th c.]
** 1859, Charles Dickens, “In Secret”, in A Tale of Two Cities, London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC, book III (The Track of a Storm), page 166:Citizen, I desire nothing more than to get to Paris, though I could dispense with the escort.
    Synonym: (term of address among communists) comrade
* (computing) An object.
    Hyponyms: first-class citizen, second-class citizen, third-class citizen

#### Synonyms

* burgess
* burgher
* denizen
* townsman, townswoman

#### Antonyms

* (antonym(s) of “resident of a city”): countryfolk, country gentleman, countryman, peasant, villager

#### Hyponyms

* (person who is legally recognized as a member or resident): first-class citizen, second-class citizen, third-class citizen

#### Derived terms

* anticitizen
* citizen band
* citizendom
* citizeness
* citizenhood
* citizenise
* citizenish
* citizenism
* citizenist
* citizenization
* citizenize
* citizen journalism
* citizen journalist
* citizen king
* citizen life
* citizenlike
* citizenly
* citizen magistrate
* citizen media
* citizen of nature
* citizen of the world
* citizen prince
* citizenry
* citizen's arrest
* citizens band
* citizens' band
* Citizens' Charter
* citizen science
* citizen scientist
* citizenship
* citizens' media
* citizen soldier
* citizen sovereign
* cocitizen
* concitizen
* corporate citizen
* cybercitizen
* dual citizen
* fellow citizen
* market citizen
* NCTzen
* netizen
* noncitizen
* private citizen
* protocitizen
* semicitizen
* shitizen
* sovereign citizen
* supercitizen
* Twittizen
* uncitizen
* undercitizen
* world citizen

#### Related terms

* citify
* city
* civil
* civilian

#### Translations

    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

### References

* Oxford English Dictionary, 3rd ed. "citizen, n. and adj." Oxford University Press (Oxford), 2014.

### Anagrams

* zincite