civil English · revision 3041

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=before 1387, Trevisa|origins=la cīvis}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈsɪv.əl/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|civil]],^(MWU 2024) [[bor|fro|civil|t=civil, relating to civil law]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) and directly a learned borrowing [[der|la|cīvīlis|t=of or proper to a citizen, relating to public life; courteous]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[m|la|cīvis|t=citizen, townsman]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) the source of [[city]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==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'',^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) the late 14th century;^(Etymonline) ''civil war'' is also found from 1387.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Although the distinctions were already known in Latin, the meaning “not barbarous, civilized” is not recorded in English before 1553,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) the contrast with the military and the ecclesiastical not before 1592,^(Barnhart 1988) and the sense “polite” not before 1606.^(Barnhart 1988) 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.^(Etymonline) The sense “polite” was in classical Latin;^(Etymonline) the OED notes that ''civil'' now suggests bare politeness, implying the possibility of rudeness.^(Etymonline) Johnson (1755) gave first “relating to the community; political”.^(Johnson 1755) ''Civil law'' is from about 1380,^(Barnhart 1988) ''civil rights'' from 1721,^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) ''civil service'' from about 1785, ''civil liberty'' from 1788,^(Barnhart 1988) and ''civil disobedience'' from 1866.^(OED 1989) In England ''the Civil War'' is applied to the struggle between Parliament and Charles I from 1649.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1380 – ''civil law''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * before 1387 – relating to citizens and the state.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1553 – civilized.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1592 – not military or ecclesiastical.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1606 – polite.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1721 – ''civil rights''.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1866 – ''civil disobedience''.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Of or relating to [[citizen|alt=citizens]] and their relations with each other and the state.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Of ordinary citizens, as distinct from the military or the church.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Polite, but no more than that; [[courteous]].^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # ''(law)'' Relating to private rights and remedies, not criminal matters.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # Happening within a country: ''civil war''.^(MW Collegiate)^(OED 1989)

+ # Of time, fixed by custom or law rather than by the sun: ''the civil year''.^(AHD)

+

+ ==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;^(Etymonline) ''polite'' and ''courteous'' are warmer.^(Etymonline)^(AHD) In west Yorkshire ''to take one's civil hook'' meant to leave.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}