Etymologically
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civicus

Etymology and origin of the Latin word civicus

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
Plautus
Ultimate origin
Latin (cīvis)

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈkiː.wɪ.kʊs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈt͡ʃiː.vi.kus][1]

Forms

cīvicus (feminine cīvica, neuter cīvicum); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from cīvis “citizen” with the suffix -icus.[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's first citation is Plautus, whose intrā mūrōs cīvicōs means “within the city walls”.[2][4] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant of one's city, then of fellow citizens, civil, as Horace's civil strife and Ovid's civil wars, and legal or civil as opposed to military.[2][4][6] The cīvica corōna was a garland of oak leaves given for saving a fellow citizen's life in battle, as in Cicero.[2][3] Lewis and Short call it rarer than cīvīlis, and mostly poetic outside that phrase.[6]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant civil, civic.[7] English civic was borrowed in the 1540s, first in civic crown.[3]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of the city walls.[4][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero mentions the cīvica corōna.[2][5]
  • 65–8 BC – Horace uses it of civil strife.[6][5]
  • 1540s – English civic is recorded.[3]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Of the city.[2]
  2. Of fellow citizens, civil, cīvica corōna, the civic crown.[2]
  3. Civil (as opposed to military).[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
Cite this entry

“Civicus.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/civicus. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·