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civique

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Etymology and origin of the French word civique

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1504 Jean Lemaire de Belges More words from the 16th century
Borrowed from
Latin civicus
Ultimate origin
Latin cīvis
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin cīvis
Latin cīvicus
English civic
French civique
From the same root
Latin cīvīlis ← cīvis
Latin cīvitās ← cīvis
English civics ← civic

Pronunciation

Forms

civique (plural civiques)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin cīvicus (“of a citizen, of the city”),[2][3][4][5] from cīvis (“citizen”).[3][6] Latin already used it beside its other adjective cīvīlis, the source of civil.[3] Bloch and Wartburg think the word was taken up because that French adjective had too many senses.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in 1504, in Jean Lemaire de Belges, in couronne civique, a Latinism after civica corona, the Roman crown of oak leaves given to a man who had saved a citizen's life.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

On the eve of the Revolution (before 1781, Turgot) the word took its modern sense “relating to the citizen”, especially “typical of a good citizen”, as in vertu civique.[3][2][4] From then on its uses followed those of citoyen and parted from those of civil.[3] Revolutionary language formed civisme (1770), anticivique (1789), incivisme (1790) and incivique (1794) around it.[3]

Timeline

  • 1504 – Jean Lemaire de Belges uses couronne civique.[2][3]
  • 1770 – Civisme is recorded.[3][4]
  • Before 1781 – Turgot writes of bonne et civique éducation.[2]
  • 1789 – Anticivique appears.[3]
  • 1794 – Incivique appears.[3]
  • 1897 – Anatole France uses the adverb civiquement.[2]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Relating to the citizen and his role in public life, civic: droits civiques, devoirs civiques.[7][6]
  2. Typical of a good citizen: vertus civiques, esprit civique;[7][6] instruction civique, teaching on a citizen's duties.[7][6]
  3. (law) Dégradation civique: a penalty depriving a citizen of his civic and political rights.[8][2]
  4. (history) Couronne civique: the oak-leaf crown the Romans gave to one who had saved a citizen's life.[6][3]
  5. (history) Garde civique: a guard made up of citizens, the garde nationale.[6][8]

Word family

  • civisme
  • civiquement
  • incivique
  • anticivique

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 723a
  6. ^ a b c d e f Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  7. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  8. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Civique.” Etymologically, 15 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/civique. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

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