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civ⋅il
[siv-uh
l] 
–adjective
| 1. | 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. |
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.
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.
Antonyms:
7, 8. boorish, churlish.
7, 8. boorish, churlish.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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|
Link To civil
| civ·il (sĭv'əl) adj.
[Middle English, from Latin cīvīlis, from cīvis, citizen; see civic.] civ'il·ly adv. |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
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.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : civil
Spanish:
cortés, educado,
German:
hölich,
Japanese:
礼儀正しい
civil
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.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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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
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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