civilizes
Brings to order
Civilizes is the third-person singular form of civilize, meaning to bring a person or society to a more developed or refined state of social organization, culture, or manners.
The word carries colonial baggage, as it was historically used to justify imposing one culture's values on another deemed inferior.
In gentler modern use, civilizes often appears humorously: A good cup of coffee civilizes me in the morning.
Someone or something that civilizes has a refining or domesticating influence.
Makes docile
- settlesComes to rest
- pacifiesBrings to calm
- subduesOvercomes and controls
- colonizesEstablishes control over territory
assimilates · converts · acculturates · reforms · disciplines · trains · socializes · habituates
Rules of polite conduct
- mannersCustoms of polite conduct
- sophisticationCultured elegance and complexity
- courtesyRespectful, considerate behavior
- politenessCourteous, respectful conduct
decorum · propriety · grace · elegance · cultivation · taste · gentility · urbanity
Forward movement or promotion
- developmentProgress toward maturity
- modernizationAdoption of current methods
- enlightenmentProfound spiritual awakening
- educationSystematic development of mind
innovation · improvement · evolution · transformation · literacy · technology · industrialization · infrastructure
How authority is exercised
- legislationOfficial enactment of statutes
- institutionsEstablished organizations or practices
- democracyRule by the people
- citizenshipStatus as state member
infrastructure · urbanization · law · order · justice · cooperation · integration · norms
tames
Makes docile
colonizes · assimilates · converts · acculturates · reforms · disciplines · trains · socializes · habituates · gentles
etiquette
Rules of polite conduct
- mannersCustoms of polite conduct
- sophisticationCultured elegance and complexity
- courtesyRespectful, considerate behavior
politeness · decorum · propriety · grace · elegance · cultivation · taste · gentility · urbanity · breeding
advancement
Forward movement or promotion
- developmentProgress toward maturity
- modernizationAdoption of current methods
- enlightenmentProfound spiritual awakening
education · innovation · improvement · evolution · transformation · literacy · technology · industrialization · infrastructure · sanitation
governance
How authority is exercised
- legislationOfficial enactment of statutes
- institutionsEstablished organizations or practices
- democracyRule by the people
citizenship · infrastructure · urbanization · law · order · justice · cooperation · integration · norms · mores
civilizesbarbarizes
Makes crude or uncivilized
savages · brutalizes · degrades · debases · coarsens
civilizesdestabilizes
Undermines steadiness or equilibrium
demoralizes · disorders · ruins · destroys · dismantles
civilizesbrutalizes
Treats with savage cruelty
barbarizes · dehumanizes · corrupts · degrades · debauches
- ancient civilizationHistorical society now vanished
- lost civilizationAncient society now gone
- Western civilizationEuro-American cultural tradition
- early civilizationEarliest complex human societies
- dawn of civilization
- cradle of civilization