Friday, January 24, 2020
How Do You Define a Citizen? Essay -- Definition
How Do You Define a Citizen? Dictionary Library. Ottenheimer Publishers, Inc., 1966 ed. Citizen - An inhabitant of a city; a member of a state; having the rights and duties of a citizen. Webster’s New World Dictionary of the American Language, College Edition. The World Publishing Company, 1962 ed. Citizen - An inhabitant of a city or (often) of a town; esp. one possessing civic rights and privileges, to burgess or freeman of a city.   1. formerly, a native or inhabitant, especially a freeman or burgess, of a town or city; hence,   2. loosely, a native, inhabitant, or denizen of any place.   3. a member of a state or nation, especially one with a republican form of government, who gives allegiance to it by birth or       naturalization and is entitled to full civil rights;   4. a civilian, as distinguished from a person in military service, a policeman, etc. Oxford English Dictionary. Claredon Press, 1989 Citizen - 1. An inhabitant of a city or (often) of a town; esp. one possessing civic rights and privileges, a burgess or freeman of a city.      Being a citizen is something most people don’t think about. In many countries citizenship is only a matter of nationality; they were born in a certain country and therefore belong to that country. They may be forced to defend it, but they may not get any special rights because of it. We in the United States are lucky in that citizenship here includes rights such as voting and running for office. Citizenship is something very important that we take for granted.      What is a citizen?      The word, "citizen" comes from the word "city." The Oxford English dictionary’s definition seems to be the original one, an inhabitant of a city. Webster’s dictionary ... ...s, usually on or around the fourth of July. As citizens of this country we are entitled to all the rights that are listed in the Constitution, yet many people are not even aware of what those rights are. Jay Leno interviewed people on the street one night and asked them simple questions about our government (number of senators, representatives, etc.). Most of them couldn’t give the correct answers. We need a lot more education about what it means to be a U.S. citizen.      So, a word that began as a description of a person who lives in a city has grown to mean a person who also lives in a state, in a country, and in the world. In addition, it includes all the rights, privileges, and duties that this person has as a citizen, especially if he lives in a republic. Even though we seldom think about it, being a citizen is one of the most important parts of our lives.
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