Adjacent Words

Civil definitions

	Tweet

Webster's 1828 Dictionary

CIVIL, a.
1. Relating to the community, or to the policy and government of the citizens and subjects of a state; as in the phrases, civil rights, civil government, civil privileges, civil war, civil justice. It is opposed to criminal; as a civil suit, a suit between citizens alone; whereas a criminal process is between the state and a citizen. It is distinguished from ecclesiastical, which respects the church; and from military, which respects the army and navy.
2. Relating to any man as a member of a community; as civil power, civil rights, the power or rights which a man enjoys as a citizen.
3. Reduced to order, rule and government; under a regular administration; implying some refinement of manners; not savage or wild; as civil life; civil society.
4. Civilized; courteous; complaisant; gentle and obliging; well-bred; affable; kind; having the manners of a city, as opposed to the rough, rude, coarse manners of a savage or clown.
Where civil speech and soft persuasion hung.
5. Grave; sober; not gay or showy.
Till civil suited morn appear.
6. Compaisant; polite; a popular colloquial use of the word.
7. Civil death, in law, is that which cuts off a man from civil society, or its rights and benefits, as banishment, outlawry, excommunication, entering into a monastery, etc., as distinguished from natural death.
8. Civil law, in a general sense, the law of a state, city or country; but in an appropriate sense, the Roman empire, comprised in the Institutes, Code and Digest of Justinian and the Novel Constitutions.
9. Civil list, the officers of civil government, who are paid from the public treasury; also, the revenue appropriated to support the civil government.
The army of James II was paid out of his civil list.
10. Civil state, the whole body of the laity or citizens, not included under the military, maritime, and ecclesiastical states.
11. Civil war, a war between people of the same state or city; opposed to foreign war.
12. Civil year, the legal year, or annual account of time which a government appoints to be used in its own dominions, as distinguished from the natural year, which is measured by the revolution of the heavenly bodies.
13. 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.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
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 [syn: civil, polite] [ant: rude, uncivil]
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" [syn: civil, civic]
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

adjective Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French, from Latin civilis, from civis Date: 14th century 1. a. of or relating to citizens b. of or relating to the state or its citizenry <civil strife> 2. a. civilized <civil society> b. adequate in courtesy and politeness ; mannerly <a civil question> 3. a. of, relating to, or based on civil law b. relating to private rights and to remedies sought by action or suit distinct from criminal proceedings c. established by law 4. of, relating to, or involving the general public, their activities, needs, or ways, or civic affairs as distinguished from special (as military or religious) affairs 5. of time based on the mean sun and legally recognized for use in ordinary affairs Synonyms: civil, polite, courteous, gallant, chivalrous mean observant of the forms required by good breeding. civil often suggests little more than the avoidance of overt rudeness <owed the questioner a civil reply>. polite commonly implies polish of speech and manners and sometimes suggests an absence of cordiality <if you can't be pleasant, at least be polite>. courteous implies more actively considerate or dignified politeness <clerks who were unfailingly courteous to customers>. gallant and chivalrous imply courteous attentiveness especially to women. gallant suggests spirited and dashing behavior and ornate expressions of courtesy <a gallant suitor of the old school>. chivalrous suggests high-minded and self-sacrificing behavior <a chivalrous display of duty>.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. 1 of or belonging to citizens. 2 of ordinary citizens and their concerns, as distinct from military or naval or ecclesiastical matters. 3 polite, obliging, not rude. 4 Law relating to civil law (see below), not criminal or political matters (civil court; civil lawyer). 5 (of the length of a day, year, etc.) fixed by custom or law, not natural or astronomical. Phrases and idioms: civil aviation non-military, esp. commercial aviation. civil commotion a riot or similar disturbance. civil defence the organization and training of civilians for the protection of lives and property during and after attacks in wartime. civil disobedience the refusal to comply with certain laws or to pay taxes etc. as a peaceful form of political protest. civil engineer an engineer who designs or maintains roads, bridges, dams, etc. civil engineering this work. civil law 1 law concerning private rights (opp. criminal law). 2 hist. Roman or non-ecclesiastical law. civil libertarian an advocate of increased civil liberty. civil liberty (often in pl.) freedom of action and speech subject to the law. civil list (in the UK) an annual allowance voted by Parliament for the royal family's household expenses. civil marriage a marriage solemnized as a civil contract without religious ceremony. civil rights the rights of citizens to political and social freedom and equality. civil servant a member of the civil service. civil service the permanent professional branches of State administration, excluding military and judicial branches and elected politicians. civil state being single or married or divorced etc. civil war a war between citizens of the same country. civil year see YEAR 2. Derivatives: civilly adv. Etymology: ME f. OF f. L civilis f. civis citizen

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

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.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. You use civil to describe events that happen within a country and that involve the different groups of people in it. ...civil unrest. ADJ: ADJ n 2. You use civil to describe people or things in a country that are not connected with its armed forces. ...the US civil aviation industry. ? military ADJ: usu ADJ n 3. You use civil to describe things that are connected with the state rather than with a religion. They were married on August 9 in a civil ceremony in Venice. ...Jewish civil and religious law. ? religious ADJ: ADJ n 4. You use civil to describe the rights that people have within a society. ...a United Nations covenant on civil and political rights. ADJ: ADJ n 5. Someone who is civil is polite in a formal way, but not particularly friendly. (FORMAL) As visitors, the least we can do is be civil to the people in their own land. = polite ADJ • civilly The man nodded civilly to Sharpe, then consulted a notebook. ADV • civility ...civility to underlings.

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. 1. Civilized. 2. Municipal, political, civic. 3. Intestine, domestic. 4. Courteous, polite, refined, complaisant, urbane, suave, obliging, affable, debonair, easy, gracious, well-bred.

Moby Thesaurus

absolute, accommodating, affable, agreeable, amiable, appropriate, aristocratic, attentive, authoritarian, autocratic, autonomous, becoming, bland, bureaucratic, civic, civilian, civilized, clubbable, clubbish, clubby, common, communal, communicative, companionable, companionate, compatible, complaisant, congenial, congregational, considerate, constitutional, cordial, cosmopolitan, courteous, courtly, cultivated, decent, decorous, deferential, democratic, despotic, dictatorial, diplomatic, domestic, fair, fascist, federal, federalist, federalistic, felicitous, fit for society, fitting, fond of society, formal, friendly, general, genial, genteel, governmental, graceful, gracious, gregarious, gubernatorial, happy, heteronomous, hospitable, impolite, internal, international, laic, laical, lay, mannered, mannerly, matriarchal, matriarchic, meet, monarchal, monarchial, monarchic, monocratic, national, nonclerical, nonecclesiastical, nonministerial, nonordained, nonpastoral, nonreligious, obliging, official, oligarchal, oligarchic, parliamentarian, parliamentary, patriarchal, patriarchic, pluralistic, polished, polite, politic, political, popular, proper, public, refined, republican, respectful, right, secular, secularist, secularistic, seemly, self-governing, sociable, social, social-minded, societal, solicitous, state, suave, suitable, supranational, tactful, temporal, theocratic, thoughtful, totalitarian, ungracious, urbane, well-bred, well-mannered