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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

civ·il       (sĭv'əl)  Pronunciation Key  adj.   Of, relating to, or befitting a citizen or citizens: civil duties. Of or relating to citizens and their interrelations with one another or with the state: civil society; the civil branches of government. Of ordinary citizens or ordinary community life as distinguished from the military or the ecclesiastical: civil authorities. Of or in accordance with organized society; civilized. Sufficiently observing or befitting accepted social usages; not rude: a civil reply. See Synonyms at polite. Being in accordance with or denoting legally recognized divisions of time: a civil year. Law Relating to the rights of private individuals and legal proceedings concerning these rights as distinguished from criminal, military, or international regulations or proceedings. [Middle English, from Latin cīvīlis, from cīvis, citizen; see civic.] civ'il·ly adv.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
civil 

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

civil
adjective
1.	applying to ordinary citizens as contrasted with the military; "civil authorities"
2.	not rude; marked by satisfactory (or especially minimal) adherence to social usages and sufficient but not noteworthy consideration for others; "even if he didn't like them he should have been civil"- W.S. Maugham [ant: rude]
3.	of or occurring within the state or between or among citizens of the state; "civil affairs"; "civil strife"; "civil disobedience"; "civil branches of government"
4.	of or relating to or befitting citizens as individuals; "civil rights"; "civil liberty"; "civic duties"; "civic pride"
5.	(of divisions of time) legally recognized in ordinary affairs of life; "the civil calendar"; "a civil day begins at mean midnight" [ant: sidereal]
6.	of or in a condition of social order; "civil peoples"

Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law - Cite This Source - Share This
Main Entry: civ·il
Pronunciation: 'si-v&l
Function: adjective
Etymology: Latin civilis, from civis citizen
1 : concerning, befitting, or applying to individual citizens or to citizens as a whole civil duty> —see also CIVIL RIGHT
2 : marked by public order : peaceable in behavior
3 : of or relating to a legal system based on Roman law as opposed to the English common law —see also the JUDICIAL SYSTEM in the back matter
4 : relating to private rights and to judicial proceedings in connection with them; especially : relating to legal matters other than those characterized as criminal civil action> civil infraction>
5 : defined by law : LEGAL civil disability>
6 : of, relating to, or involving the general public, their activities, needs, ways, or civic affairs as distinguished from special (as military or religious) affairs civil authorities> civil service> —civ·il·ly adverb

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Civil

Civ"il\, a. [L. civilis, fr. civis citizen: cf. F. civil. See City.]

1. Pertaining to a city or state, or to a citizen in his relations to his fellow citizens or to the state; within the city or state.

2. Subject to government; reduced to order; civilized; not barbarous; -- said of the community.

England was very rude and barbarous; for it is but even the other day since England grew civil. --Spenser.

3. Performing the duties of a citizen; obedient to government; -- said of an individual.

Civil men come nearer the saints of God than others; they come within a step or two of heaven. --Preston

4. Having the manners of one dwelling in a city, as opposed to those of savages or rustics; polite; courteous; complaisant; affable.

Note: "A civil man now is one observant of slight external courtesies in the mutual intercourse between man and man; a civil man once was one who fulfilled all the duties and obligations flowing from his position as a 'civis' and his relations to the other members of that 'civitas."' --Trench

5. Pertaining to civic life and affairs, in distinction from military, ecclesiastical, or official state.

6. Relating to rights and remedies sought by action or suit distinct from criminal proceedings.

Civil action, an action to enforce the rights or redress the wrongs of an individual, not involving a criminal proceeding.

Civil architecture, the architecture which is employed in constructing buildings for the purposes of civil life, in distinction from military and naval architecture, as private houses, palaces, churches, etc.

Civil death. (Law.) See under Death.

Civil engineering. See under Engineering.

Civil law. See under Law.

Civil list. See under List.

Civil remedy (Law), that given to a person injured, by action, as opposed to a criminal prosecution.

Civil service, all service rendered to and paid for by the state or nation other than that pertaining to naval or military affairs.

Civil service reform, the substitution of business principles and methods for the spoils system in the conduct of the civil service, esp. in the matter of appointments to office.

Civil state, the whole body of the laity or citizens not included under the military, maritime, and ecclesiastical states.

Civil suit. Same as Civil action.

Civil war. See under War.

Civil year. See under Year.