citizen
/ˈsɪtɪzən/noun
citizen is spelled C-I-T-I-Z-E-N: 7 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 25 times per million words in written English, the 3,683rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, citizen means “A resident of a city or town, especially one with legally recognized rights or duties” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of citizen is citizens.
How many letters and syllables are in citizen?
| Letters | 7: C-I-T-I-Z-E-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 25 times per million words; the 3,683rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is citizen?
Citizen appears 25 times per million words in written English, the 3,683rd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce citizen?
- UK /ˈsɪtɪzən/
- US /ˈsɪtɪzən/
- US /ˈsɪtɪsən/
Citizen has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-citizen.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of citizen
- citizens plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does citizen mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A resident of a city or town, especially one with legally recognized rights or duties.
- 2
A legally recognized member of a state, with associated rights and obligations; a person considered in terms of this role.
I am a Roman citizen.
- 3
An inhabitant or occupant: a member of any place.
Diogenes reckoned himself a citizen of the world.
- 4
A resident of the heavenly city or (later) of the kingdom of God: a Christian; a good Christian.
- 5
A civilian, as opposed to a police officer, soldier, or member of some other specialized (usually state) group.
- 6
obsoleteAn ordinary person, as opposed to nobles and landed gentry on one side and peasants, craftsmen, and laborers on the other.
- 7
A term of address among supporters of the French Revolution in France or elsewhere; (later, dated) a term of address among socialists and communists.
- 8
A notional inhabitant of a software system; an object or a software application.
noun
- 1
A personal Title denoting citizenship, implicitly of the nation in which it is spoken
- 2
A pupil of City of London School
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Citizen in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | citoyen, citoyenne , habitant, habitante |
| German | Staatsbürger, Staatsbürgerin, Bürger, Bürgerin , Einwohner, Einwohnerin |
| Portuguese | cidadão, cidadã , citadino, citadina , morador |
| Spanish | ciudadano, ciudadana |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does citizen come from?
From Middle English citeseyn (“inhabitant of a city or town”), citezein, citisein, from Anglo-Norman citesain (“city-dweller, town-dweller”), citesein, citezein, alteration of citeien from cite (“city”) + -ien (“-ain”) (probable variant of cithein perhaps influenced by dainzain (“denizen”), deinzein), from Old French cite (“city”) + -ien (whence French citoyen), from earlier citet, from Latin civitatem, citatem, from civis. See also city. Displaced native Old English burhsittend and Old English ceasterware.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).