From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishcivilizeciv‧i‧lize (also civilise British English) /ˈsɪvəl-aɪz/ verb [transitive] 1 SENSIBLEto influence someone’s behaviour, making or teaching them to act in a more sensible or gentle way The missionaries went out to civilize other places.2 to improve a society so that it is more organized and developed, and often more fair or comfortable Ellis was credited with civilizing the Texas prison system.→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
civilize• The Romans hoped to civilize all the tribes of Europe.• But I wish he'd civilize his living arrangements.• By the year gold was discovered, disease and the civilizing process had already reduced this number to some 100,000.• Queequeg is seen to be more delicate and civilized than most of the Christians that Ishmael has known. 