mindmap root((一个敏锐温和体贴感恩的公民)) citizen is preferred for one who owes allegiance to a state in which sovereign power is retained by the people and who shares in the political rights of those people: the inalienable rights of a free ~. subject implies allegiance to a personal sovereign such as a monarch: the king enjoys the loyalty of his ~s. national designates one who may claim the protection of a state and applies especially to one living or travelling outside that state: American ~s currently in Europe.