English Explanatory Dictionary

civil war

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A war fought between factions of the inhabitants of a single country, or a similar political entity.
name
  1. Any of several civil wars, taken specifically.

Pronunciation

en-us-civil war.ogg

Word forms

civil war civil wars the Civil War

Etymology

Calque of Latin bellum cīvīle, in English from 1651 in reference to the English Civil War, with possible early use in the 15th and 16th centuries as wer cyuile or ciuill warre. Displaced native Old English inġewinn.

Derived words

Civil War English Civil War (1642–1651) American Civil War (1861–1865) Irish Civil War (1922–1923)
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