Civ`i*li*za"tion (?), n. [Cf. F. civilisation.] 1. The act of civilizing, or the state of being civilized; national culture; refinement.

Our manners, our civilization, and all the good things connected with manners, and with civilization, have, in this European world of ours, depended for ages upon two principles -- . . . the spirit of a gentleman, and spirit of religion.
Burke

2. (Law) Rendering a criminal process civil. [Obs.]

• the act or state of being civilized
  
• a country or group of countries with a common cultural background
  
• a stage or system of social, political or technical development of a large scale order encompassing several or many communities, often on the nation or people scale. (ancient civilisations; western civilisation; the Aztec civilisation.) cf culture.
  
• a communal understanding; the achievements of a communal understanding; e.g., Ancient Roman Civilization - the communal understanding of the ancient Romans, or what the communal understanding of the ancient Romans achieved: buildings, conquests, roads, laws.
  
• preferred human society, with its facilities, in contrast to either wilderness, or uncivilised society. eg: "I'm glad to get back to civilization after being lost for 3 weeks in the jungle", "I'm glad to get back to civilization after spending a day with that large noisy group of children"
  
• Collectively, those people of the world considered to have a high standard of behavior and / or a high level of development. Commonly subjectively used by people of one society to exclusively refer to their society, or their elite sub-group, or a few associated societies, implying all others, in time or geography or status, as something less than civilised, as savages or barbarians. cf refinement, elitism, civilised society, the Civilised World
  
• The act of civilizing, or the state of being civilized; the state of being refined in manners, from the grossness of savage life and improved in arts and learning
  
• The act of rendering a criminal process civil.