citizen

• cytesin (obsolete)

From Middle English citeseyn, citezein, borrowed from Anglo-Norman citesain (“burgher; city-dweller”), citezein &c., probably a variant of cithein under influence of deinzein (“denizen”), from Anglo-Norman and Old French citeain &c. and citaien, citeien &c. ("burgher"; modern French citoyen), from cité ("settlement; cathedral city, city"; modern French cité) + -ain or -ien (“-an, -ian”). See city and hewe.

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈsɪtɪzən/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈsɪtɪzən/, /ˈsɪtɪsən/

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citizen (plural citizens)

1. (obsolete) A resident of a city or town, particularly:
   1. (historical) A freeman or burgher: a legally-recognized member of an incorporated city.
      • George Eliot

        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.

   2. (obsolete) A member of the early modern urban middle class, distinguished from nobles and landed gentry on one side and from peasants, craftsmen, and laborers on the other.
   3. (Christianity) A resident or future resident of the heavenly city or (later) of the kingdom of God: a Christian; a good Christian.
2. A legally-recognized member of a state, with associated rights and obligations; a person considered in terms of this role, particularly:
   • 1990, House of Cards, Season 1, Episode 4:

     Assistant: You'll meet with the managing director and Dr Sinita Brahmachari, the engineer who designed the chair.
     Peter Mackenzie: Indian, is he?
     Assistant: She is a British citizen, Minister. Born in Coventry.

   • 2012 January 1, Steven Sloman, “The Battle Between Intuition and Deliberation”, in American Scientist‎, volume 100, number 1, page 74:

     Libertarian paternalism is the view that, because the way options are presented to citizens affects what they choose, society should present options in a way that “nudges” our intuitive selves to make choices that are more consistent with what our more deliberative selves would have chosen if they were in control.

   I am a Roman citizen.

   1. (dated) A member of a state that is not a monarchy.

      Formerly, the citizens of republics were distinguished from the subjects living in kingdoms.

   2. (historical, usually capitalized) A term of address among French citizens during the French Revolution or towards its supporters elsewhere; (later, dated) a term of address among socialists and communists.
      • 1859, Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities, iii, i, 166:

        Citizen, I desire nothing more than to get to Paris.

3. An inhabitant: a member of any place.

   Diogenes reckoned himself a citizen of the world.

   • 1979 October, Boys' Life, p. 33:

     A jellyfish... carries poison cells that can sting other citizens of the sea.

4. A private citizen: a civilian, as opposed to a police officer, professional soldier, or other (usually state) group.
5. (computing) An object.

• (legally-recognized member of a city): burgess, burgher, freeman
• (member of the early-modern urban middle class): tradesman
• (legally-recognized member of a state): countryman, national
• (term of address among communists): comrade
• (member of a place): resident, denizen, local, inhabitant, native, occupant

• (resident of a city): countryfolk, country gentleman, countryman, peasant, villager
• (legally-recognized member of a state): alien, illegal alien, foreigner; illegal (colloquial)
• (legally-recognized member of a non-monarchal state): subject
• (member of a place): alien, stranger, outsider

• (legally-recognized member of a city): citess, citizeness (female)
• (legally-recognized member of a state): first-class citizen, second-class citizen, third-class citizen; native; naturalized citizen; senior citizen
• (computing, person who is legally recognized as a member or resident): first-class citizen, second-class citizen, third-class citizen

• citizenship
• city
• civil
• civilian
• denizen

• Oxford English Dictionary, 3rd ed. "citizen, n. and adj." Oxford University Press (Oxford), 2014.

• zincite