of, pertaining to, or consisting of citizens: civil life; civil society.
2.
of the commonwealth or state: civil affairs.
3.
of citizens in their ordinary capacity, or of the ordinary life and affairs of citizens, as distinguished from military and ecclesiastical life and affairs.
4.
of the citizen as an individual: civil liberty.
5.
befitting a citizen: a civil duty.
6.
of, or in a condition of, social order or organized government; civilized: civil peoples.
7.
adhering to the norms of polite social intercourse; not deficient in common courtesy: After their disagreement, their relations were civil though not cordial.
8.
marked by benevolence: He was a very civil sort, and we liked him immediately.
9.
(of divisions of time) legally recognized in the ordinary affairs of life: the civil year.
10.
of or pertaining to civil law.
[Origin: 1350–1400; ME < L cīvīlis, equiv. to cīv(is) citizen + -īlis-il]
—Related forms
civ·il·ness, noun
—Synonyms 7, 8. respectful, deferential, gracious, complaisant, suave, affable, urbane, courtly. Civil,affable,courteous,polite all imply avoidance of rudeness toward others. Civil suggests a minimum of observance of social requirements. Affable suggests ease of approach and friendliness. Courteous implies positive, dignified, sincere, and thoughtful consideration for others. Polite implies habitual courtesy, arising from a consciousness of one's training and the demands of good manners.
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.]
1387, from L. civilis "of or proper to a citizen," alternate adj. derivation of civis "townsman" (see city). The sense of "polite" was in the L., from the courteous manners of citizens, as opposed to those of soldiers. But Eng. did not pick up this nuance of the word until 1606, though civility dates from c.1384. "Courteous is thus more commonly said of superiors, civil of inferiors, since it implies or suggests the possibility of incivility or rudeness" [OED]. Civil war "battles among fellow citizens or within a community" first recorded 1387 (in England, the 17c. struggle between Parliament and Charles I; in U.S., the War of Secession, 1861-1865). Civil rights is from 1721, specifically of black U.S. citizens from 1866; civil liberty is from 1788. Civil disobedience coined 1866 by Thoreau as title of an essay originally published (1849) as "Resistance to Civil Government." Civil Service originally c.1785, in ref. to the non-military branch of the East India Company.
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"
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.
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