civilise
UK[ˈsɪv.ə.laɪz]US[ˈsɪv.ə.laɪz]
v
to educate a society so that its culture and organization become more developed
v
to improve someone's behaviour or manners, making them more polite and reasonable
Morpheme Breakdown
civil
ise
civil
relating to citizens
ise
verb-forming suffix
Etymology
the word civilise is built upon the latin root civilis, which itself derives from civis, meaning "citizen". the core concept embedded in civilis is that of a member of a settled community, governed by law and social order, as opposed to a state of rudeness or savagery. the suffix -ise was attached to this root, a productive process in english from the 16th century onward, to form verbs meaning "to make or become like" the root. thus, the literal construction "to make civil" evolved into the modern abstract meaning of bringing a society or individual to a more advanced, polite, and organized state reflective of a developed civic community.
Analysis
Structure: civil (relating to citizens) + ise (verb-forming suffix)
civil: from latin civilis, meaning "relating to a citizen, relating to public life, courteous". functions as the core root conveying the concept of societal order and citizenship.
ise: a verb-forming suffix of french and latin origin (-izare from greek -izein), indicating "to render, to make, to become".
Examples
the missionaries aimed to civilise the remote tribe by introducing written language and new agricultural techniques.
some philosophers argued that the primary role of art is to civilise human passions.
living in the city for a year seemed to civilise him, smoothing out his rougher edges.