English Explanatory Dictionary

civil

English dictionary entry

Meanings

adj
  1. Having to do with people and government office as opposed to the military or religion.
  2. Behaving in a reasonable or polite manner; avoiding displays of hostility.
  3. In a peaceful and well-ordered state.
  4. Relating to private relations among citizens, as opposed to criminal matters.
  5. Secular.
name
  1. A surname.

Pronunciation

ʹsĭv-əl /ˈsɪv.əl/ en-us-civil.ogg

Word forms

civil more civil civiler most civil civilest Civils

Etymology

From Middle English cyvyl, civil, borrowed from Old French civil, from Latin cīvīlis (“relating to a citizen”), from cīvis (“citizen”). Cognate with Old English hīwen (“household”), hīrǣden (“family”). More at hind; hird. (polite): Compare typologically urbane (<< Latin urbs), courteous (akin to court).

Synonyms

nonreligious temporal worldy areligious civil earthly irreligious laicist laicistic mundane profane secular unconsecrated unsanctified worldly

Antonyms

anti-civil impolite inconsiderate noncivil rude

Related words

civic civilization

Derived words

American civil religion civil action civil aviation civil celebrant civil code civil court civil day civil death civil defence civil defense civil disobedience civil enforcement officer civil engineer civil engineering civil ensign Civil Guard civilian civilise civilish civilist civility civilize civil law civil law notary civil libertarian civil liberties civil liberty civil list civilly civil marriage civilness civilogue civil parish civil partner civil partnership civil power civil procedure civil registry civil rightist civil rights civil rights movement civil servant civil service civil society civil status civil suit civil time civil tongue civil trial civil twilight civil union civil violation civil war civil wrong civil year Common-Civil-Calendar-and-Time Calendar keep a civil tongue keep a civil tongue in one's head keep a civil tongue in one's mouth minor civil division
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
Back to search All on C Russian dictionary Dahl dictionary