Two different things share this name, and this page is about the older one — the concept itself.

Short answer

The short definition is a complex society with cities, division of labour and lasting institutions — everything else is detail about which of those matter most.

  • Some form of record-keeping, usually but not always writing.
  • Specialised work — craft, administration, priesthood, trade.
  • Expect one number in every guide to be out of date; the method is what matters.

Twenty years of expansions mean half the advice online describes a version that no longer exists. In everyday use it often means simply "a large historical society", which is looser than the academic sense. Archaeology tends to look for cities, surplus food and record-keeping as practical markers.

Where the word comes from

Screenshots age faster than text, which is why this describes rather than shows. Historians treat it as a description of scale and organisation rather than of merit. The word entered English from Latin by way of French, and its older sense was closer to "making civil". Do the cheap check before the expensive one — that ordering alone saves most of the frustration.

Dictionaries agree on the core and differ on the edges, which is why several definitions circulate. The plural is regular, and both the singular and plural are common in ordinary writing. A single check up front replaces a lot of guessing later.

How it is used today

The term has a difficult history: it has been used to rank societies, and that use is now widely rejected. The strategy game borrowed the word, which is why searches for it return two very different kinds of result. If you are coming to this after a long break, the terminology has probably moved on.

  • Cities and permanent settlement rather than seasonal movement.
  • Monumental building, which tends to follow from the rest.
  • Read the whole sequence once before doing the first step.
  • Institutions that outlast the individuals running them.
  • A food surplus that frees people from producing their own.
  • Region and platform change more than people expect, so confirm both.

What separates it from a society or a culture

Anything that behaves differently on console than on PC is flagged where it matters. World of Warcraft is not shy about hiding useful information two menus deep, so some of this is simply knowing where to look. If a step reads as obvious, do it anyway — the obvious ones are the ones people skip and then wonder about. Most of the disagreement you will find online is two people describing different builds.

The short version is near the top on purpose; the reasoning is there if you want to know why. Half the pages on this topic were written for a build that no longer exists, which is why they stop matching what you see. There is no hidden trick here that the game is keeping from you.

The short definition

None of this needs a paid tool, a third-party launcher or an account on a site you have never heard of. Everything below is framed around the current state of World of Warcraft rather than a launch-week impression. There is usually a fast way and a reliable way, and it is worth knowing which one you are choosing.

Where something depends on your platform or region, that is called out rather than glossed over. The community wisdom on this is roughly half right, and the half that is wrong costs the most time. It helps to understand why a step exists, because then you can adapt it when your situation is slightly different.

Why the definition is argued over

What follows assumes you are on a current install and have not modified it. If your result differs from what is described here, note what is different first rather than starting over. The developers have changed their mind about this at least once, which explains the older advice.

Where people go wrong

  • Assuming a guide from an older season still describes the current version.
  • Treating a rare edge case as the normal behaviour and planning around it.
  • Grinding a method that was patched months ago because a thread still ranks well.
  • Trusting a video thumbnail that promises a result the video never actually shows.

WoW FAQ

Do I need any mods or third-party tools for this?

No. Everything described here works with the base game on any supported platform.

Where does the word come from?

From Latin roots relating to citizens and cities, through French. Its earlier English sense was closer to the act of making something civil.

What is the simplest definition?

A large, settled society with cities, specialised work and lasting institutions. Everything beyond that is a matter of emphasis.

Does this work the same on console and PC?

The logic is identical. Menu paths and button prompts differ, and any real difference is flagged above.

If you only take one thing from this: the answer near the top is the part that matters, the rest is context.