/ səˈvɪliən; NAmE / noun
a person who is not a member of the armed forces or the police
► ci·vil·ian adjective [ usually before noun ]:
He left the army and returned to civilian life.
—compare military
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WORD ORIGIN
late Middle English (denoting a practitioner of civil law): from Old French civilien , in the phrase droit civilien civil law. The current sense arose in the early 19th cent.