civil Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. adjective satellite applying to ordinary citizens as contrasted with the military
    • civil authorities
  2. adjective not rude; marked by satisfactory (or especially minimal) adherence to social usages and sufficient but not noteworthy consideration for others
    polite.
    • even if he didn't like them he should have been civil"- W.S. Maugham
  3. adjective of or occurring within the state or between or among citizens of the state
    • civil affairs
    • civil strife
    • civil disobedience
    • civil branches of government
  4. adjective of or relating to or befitting citizens as individuals
    civic.
    • civil rights
    • civil liberty
    • civic duties
    • civic pride
  5. adjective (of divisions of time) legally recognized in ordinary affairs of life
    • the civil calendar
    • a civil day begins at mean midnight
  6. adjective satellite of or in a condition of social order
    • civil peoples

WordNet

Civ"il adjective
Etymology
L. civilis, fr. civis citizen: cf. F. civil. See City.
Definitions
  1. Pertaining to a city or state, or to a citizen in his relations to his fellow citizens or to the state; within the city or state.
  2. Subject to government; reduced to order; civilized; not barbarous; -- said of the community.
    England was very rude and barbarous; for it is but even the other day since England grew civil. Spenser.
  3. Performing the duties of a citizen; obedient to government; -- said of an individual.
    Civil men come nearer the saints of God than others; they come within a step or two of heaven. Preston
  4. Having the manners of one dwelling in a city, as opposed to those of savages or rustics; polite; courteous; complaisant; affable. ✍ "A civil man now is one observant of slight external courtesies in the mutual intercourse between man and man; a civil man once was one who fulfilled all the duties and obligations flowing from his position as a 'civis' and his relations to the other members of that 'civitas.'" Trench
  5. Pertaining to civic life and affairs, in distinction from military, ecclesiastical, or official state.
  6. Relating to rights and remedies sought by action or suit distinct from criminal proceedings.

Webster 1913