citizen

   In novels dealing with the French Revolution of 1789, ‘citizen’ occurs as a translated form of both citoyen and citoyenne, though ‘citizeness’ is also used for the latter. These titles were substituted by decree for Monsieur and Madame, though the latter were subsequently restored. ‘Citizen’ will thus be found in A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens, when French people are being addressed. In normal English usage ‘citizen’ is more likely to occur as part of a vocative group such as ‘my fellow citizens’, when a political speech is being made. That phrase is used by ‘Honest Jim’ Blausser, in Sinclair Lewis’s Main Street He tells the inhabitants of Gopher Prairie that the town will one day be as big as Minneapolis, addressing his audience as ‘friends’, ‘fellow citizens’, ‘my fellow citizens’. Jug of Silver, a short story by Truman Capote, has: ‘“Citizens,” cried Mayor Mawes, “citizens-I say, this is Christmas.”’