Which to use
“civilisation” and “civilization” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #17,793
- “civilisation” frequency rank
- #6,998
- “civilization” frequency rank
- 24791
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | civilisation | civilization |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Hong Kong, and Commonwealth spelling of civilization. | An organized culture encompassing many communities, often on the scale of a nation or a people; a stage or system of social, political, or technical development. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set civilisation and civilization apart are highlighted. They share 11 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
This is the hard kind. civilisation and civilization are pronounced identically (/ˌsɪv.ɪ.laɪˈzeɪ.ʃən/) and both work as anoun. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by a single letter - s in “civilisation” becomes z in “civilization”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24791, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
civilisation is recorded at frequency rank #17,793, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˌsɪv.ɪ.laɪˈzeɪ.ʃən/. civilization is at rank #6,998, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˌsɪv.ɪ.laɪˈzeɪ.ʃən/.
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 24791, this pair ranks #399,285 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of civilisation vs civilization
Shared letters: acilnotv. Private to "civilisation": s. Private to "civilization": z.
"civilisation" · 12 letters · shape CVCVCVCVCVVC · "civilization" · 12 letters · shape CVCVCVCVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- civilisation ← ccivilisation · ciivlisation · civiilsation · civiliastion · civilisaiton · civilisasion · civilisatino · civilisationn
- civilization ← ccivilization · ciivlization · civiilzation · civiliaztion · civilizaiton · civilizasion · civilizatino · civilizationn
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "civilisation" and "civilization" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "civilisation" or "civilization"?
Remembering civilisation vs civilization
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “civilisation” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable