civil

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈsɪv.əl/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English civil,^[2] borrowed from Old French civil (“civil, relating to civil law”),^[3][4] and directly a learned borrowing from Latin cīvīlis (“of or proper to a citizen, relating to public life; courteous”),^[3][4] from cīvis (“citizen, townsman”),^[3][4][5] the source of city.^[4][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Relating to civil law or life, or the internal affairs of a state: before 1387, in Trevisa's translation of Higden's Polychronicon,^[4][6] the late 14th century;^[3] civil war is also found from 1387.^[6]

Semantic evolution

Although the distinctions were already known in Latin, the meaning “not barbarous, civilized” is not recorded in English before 1553,^[4][3] the contrast with the military and the ecclesiastical not before 1592,^[4] and the sense “polite” not before 1606.^[4] The jurist John Austin remarked in 1873 that the word had about twelve different meanings, each defined by what it was opposed to: criminal, ecclesiastical, military.^[3] The sense “polite” was in classical Latin;^[3] the OED notes that civil now suggests bare politeness, implying the possibility of rudeness.^[3] Johnson (1755) gave first “relating to the community; political”.^[7] Civil law is from about 1380,^[4] civil rights from 1721,^[4][6] civil service from about 1785, civil liberty from 1788,^[4] and civil disobedience from 1866.^[6] In England the Civil War is applied to the struggle between Parliament and Charles I from 1649.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 1380 – civil law.^[4]
• before 1387 – relating to citizens and the state.^[4][6]
• 1553 – civilized.^[4]
• 1592 – not military or ecclesiastical.^[4]
• 1606 – polite.^[4]
• 1721 – civil rights.^[4][6]
• 1866 – civil disobedience.^[6]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Of or relating to citizens and their relations with each other and the state.
2. Of ordinary citizens, as distinct from the military or the church.
3. Polite, but no more than that; courteous.
4. (law) Relating to private rights and remedies, not criminal matters.
5. Happening within a country: civil war.
6. Of time, fixed by custom or law rather than by the sun: the civil year.

Word family

• civilly
• civilness
• civilize
• overcivil
• uncivil
• civilian
• civility
• civil day

Related words

• civic
• civilization
• city
• citizen

Usage notes

Civil implies only the least degree of courtesy, and can suggest that rudeness was possible;^[3] polite and courteous are warmer.^[3][8] In west Yorkshire to take one's civil hook meant to leave.^[9]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
9. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)