civitas Latin · revision 6173

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=Plautus|origins=ine-pro *ḱey-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈkiː.wɪ.taːs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈt͡ʃiː.vi.tas]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''cīvitās''' ''f'' (genitive cīvitātis); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|cīvis|-tās|t1=citizen]].^(OLD 2012)^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) [[cīvis]] goes back to [[itc-pro|*keiwi-|t=society]], from [[ine-pro|*ḱei-wo-|t=friendly, intimate]].^(de Vaan 2008) Vine takes ''cīvis'' as an abstract “society” used of a single member, which explains why this noun and [[cīvīlis]] refer to the civic order rather than to one citizen.^(de Vaan 2008) Isidore of Seville says a ''cīvitās'' is a multitude of people joined by a bond of society, named from the citizens, while the [[urbs]] is the walls.^(Isidore)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan dates it from Plautus, whose character wishes that the state would be more harmonious.^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012) Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It meant an organized community, a state, the citizens who make it up, and a state as a place, usually a city with its district, as Plautus' question which city to go to.^(OLD 2012) It also meant the rights of a citizen, citizenship, with ''cīvitās sine suffrāgiō'' “citizenship without the vote”, and figuratively the naturalization of a foreign word in Latin, as Quintilian's ''eurus''.^(OLD 2012) Döderlein distinguishes [[gēns]] and [[nātiō]], a people by descent, from [[populus]] and ''cīvitās'', a people as a political body.^(Döderlein 1874)

+

+ In Late and Medieval Latin it was an administrative district of the empire, a diocese, and an episcopal city, and in Christian usage ''cīvitās Deī'' was the Church and the heavenly city.^(Niermeyer 1976)^(DMLBS) It survives in Italian ''città'', French ''cité'' and Spanish ''ciudad''.^(Wiktionary) Through Old French ''cite'' it is the source of [[en|city]], recorded about 1200.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of a state and a city.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of the state and of citizenship.^(Köbler 2010)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ * c. 560–636 AD – Isidore of Seville defines it.^(Isidore)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 1200 – English ''city'' is recorded.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # An organized community, [[m|en|state]].^(OLD 2012)

+ # The citizens of a state.^(OLD 2012)

+ # A [[m|en|city]] with its district.^(OLD 2012)

+ # [[m|en|Citizenship]].^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(figurative)'' Naturalization (of a word).^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(Late and Medieval Latin)'' An administrative district; a [[m|en|diocese]]; an episcopal city.^(Niermeyer 1976)^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[cīvitātula]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[cīvicus]]

+ * [[cīvīle]]

+ * [[cīvīlis]]

+ * [[cīvīlitās]]

+ * [[cīvīliter]]

+ * [[cīvis]]

+ * [[urbs]]

+ * [[en|city]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}