Definition of Citizen Essay - 565 Words

Definition of Citizen The context in which words are used may change in everyday conversation, but ultimately the foundation of the definition remains constant. The number one definition generally changes due to advancement in society. Consider the word citizen. The meaning of the word citizen has changed since 1913, but the definition that is used today was also used back then. There are some commonalities between The Webster Dictionary, published in 1913 and The Oxford English Dictionary, as well as, The American Heritage College Dictionary. Each of the dictionaries all state that a citizen is an inhabitant of a city or a particular place and a person that has voting rights. In these cases the definition of the word has not†¦show more content†¦Under this definition, African Americans and women were not included. African Americans were not included until the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Women were included in 1918. Therefore a citizen was, for the most part, a white male. Since the Civil Rights Movement and Womens Suffrage the definition has changed significantly. In the two more recent dictionaries the number one definitions have nothing to do with freedom or voting rights. It is the secondary definitions that use voting as a qualification of a citizen. All of these definitions noted above work but then the question arises, are people under eighteen years of age, who cannot vote, considered citizens? People under eighteen fall into the category of being inhabitants of a city, town, state, or nation. In the definitions of The Oxford English Dictionary and The American Heritage College Dictionary they do not say one must be able to vote: they simply say especially one who can vote. A person under eighteen is considered to be a citizen because the potential to vote is there. It is because of this potential that these people are protected under the laws and considered citizens. The meaning of the word citizen has changed since 1913. Although the primary definition of the word appears to have remainedShow MoreRelatedAristotle And Plato : Definition Of A Good Citizen1965 Words   |  8 PagesPS311 October 06, 2016 Aristotle and Plato (definition of a good citizen) Like other ancient philosophers, Aristotle and Plato had two different conceptions of the state, justice, and politics. They both lived in Greece but had different points of views on the natural of all citizens and how citizens were capable of being perfect in the state. Surprisingly, the same debates that guided Plato and Aristotle’s work remain with us today. What is a good citizen? What makes a good man? Justice? SocietyRead MoreThe Presidency Of 44th Us President Barak Obama1454 Words   |  6 Pagesfor being a citizen. The difficulty in finding a clear-cut definition is not a recent philosophical quandary, rather it is one that has been in the minds of many great thinkers for centuries. 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