citizenship

/ˈsɪɾɪzɪnʃɪp/

/ˈsɪtɪzənʃɪp/

Other forms: citizenships

Citizenship is the status of being a citizen. If you have citizenship in a country, you have the right to live there, work, vote, and pay taxes!

Citizenship comes from the Latin word for city, because in the earlier days of human governments, people identified themselves as belonging to cities more than countries. Citizenship is more than merely living somewhere. If you have citizenship, you have a whole set of rights that non-citizens might not have. Usually you have citizenship in the country you're born in, but if you're an immigrant from somewhere else, you have to apply for it.

Definitions of citizenship

1. noun

   the status of a citizen with rights and duties
   type of:

   legal status

   a status defined by law
2. noun

   conduct as a citizen
   “award for good citizenship”

   type of:

   behavior, behaviour, conduct, demeanor, demeanour, deportment

   (behavioral attributes) the way a person behaves toward other people