citizen Meaning, Definition & Usage

Cit"i*zen noun

Etymology

OE. citisein, OF. citeain, F. citoyen, fr. cité city. See City, and cf. Cit.

Definitions

1. One who enjoys the freedom and privileges of a city; a freeman of a city, as distinguished from a foreigner, or one not entitled to its franchises.

   That 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. G. Eliot.

2. An inhabitant of a city; a townsman. Shak.
3. A person, native or naturalized, of either sex, who owes allegiance to a government, and is entitled to reciprocal protection from it. ✍ This protection is . . . national protection, recognition of the individual, in the face of foreign nations, as a member of the state, and assertion of his security and rights abroad as well as at home. Abbot
4. One who is domiciled in a country, and who is a citizen, though neither native nor naturalized, in such a sense that he takes his legal status from such country.

Cit"i*zen adjective

Definitions

1. Having the condition or qualities of a citizen, or of citizens; as, a citizen soldiery.
2. Of or pertaining to the inhabitants of a city; characteristic of citizens; effeminate; luxurious. Obs.

   I am not well, But not so citizen a wanton as To seem to die ere sick. Shak.