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Definition of "civilise" []

  • To educate or enlighten a person or people to a perceived higher standard of behaviour. (verb)
  • To introduce or impose the standards of one civilisation upon another civilization, group or person, arguably with the intent of achieving a perceived higher standard of behavior. (verb)
  • To bring from a state of savagery to an educated or refined state. (verb)

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Use "civilise" in a sentence
  • "Or maybe they did, but didn't realise it, and somehow switched them to unicameral in the process of trying to "civilise" them."
  • "In principle this was no different from the arrogance which convinced Joao III of Portugal that so long as there was an African not in bondage, there was an African who remained to be subjected to slavery, or the British, who knew it as a matter of fact that they had a manifest destiny to "civilise" the "primitive" African natives."
  • "On assiste a une interruption brutale de l'volution de cette mdecine avec l'arrive du pouvoir colonial qui interdisait la pratique soit disant que la mdecine "civilise" de la mtropole tait bien suprieure."
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