Origin: Latin suffix -tion
Civilization has 6 different meanings across 2 categories:
a society in an advanced state of social development (e.g., with complex legal and political and religious organizations)
"the people slowly progressed from barbarism to civilization"
the social process whereby societies achieve an advanced stage of development and organization
"The rise of urban centers marked a significant step in civilization, as communities developed complex systems of governance and trade."
a particular society at a particular time and place
"early Mayan civilization"
the quality of excellence in thought and manners and taste
"a man of intellectual refinement"
"he is remembered for his generosity and civilization"
An organized culture encompassing many communities, often on the scale of a nation or a people; a stage or system of social, political, or technical development.
"The ancient city-states eventually merged to form a vast civilization that unified diverse communities under shared laws and advanced technology."
In plain English: Civilization is an advanced society with developed culture, technology, and organized government that improves people's lives compared to earlier times.
"The ancient ruins show that this valley was once home to an advanced civilization."
Usage: Use this word to describe large-scale societies with shared institutions and technology rather than small tribes. It refers specifically to advanced stages of human development involving complex organization across many communities.
Collectively, those people of the world considered to have a high standard of behavior and / or a high level of development. Commonly subjectively used by people of one society to exclusively refer to their society, or their elite sub-group, or a few associated societies, implying all others, in time or geography or status, as something less than civilised, as savages or barbarians. cf refinement, elitism, civilised society, the Civilised World
"After years of conflict with the indigenous tribes, the colonizers continued to refer to their own fortified settlements as the only true civilization while dismissing the surrounding lands as savage wastelands."
The word civilization comes from the French term civilisation. It originally combined the root meaning of civil with a suffix indicating an action or process.