[1] : The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

civil \civ"il\, a. l. civilis, fr. civis citizen: cf. f. civil.
   see city.
   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.
      1913 webster

   2. subject to government; reduced to order; civilized; not
      barbarous; -- said of the community.
      1913 webster

            england was very rude and barbarous; for it is but
            even the other day since england grew civil.
                                                  --spenser.
      1913 webster

   3. performing the duties of a citizen; obedient to
      government; -- said of an individual.
      1913 webster

            civil men come nearer the saints of god than others;
            they come within a step or two of heaven. --preston
      1913 webster

   4. having the manners of one dwelling in a city, as opposed
      to those of savages or rustics; polite; courteous;
      complaisant; affable.
      1913 webster

   note: "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
         1913 webster

   5. pertaining to civic life and affairs, in distinction from
      military, ecclesiastical, or official state.
      1913 webster

   6. relating to rights and remedies sought by action or suit
      distinct from criminal proceedings.
      1913 webster

   civil action, an action to enforce the rights or redress
      the wrongs of an individual, not involving a criminal
      proceeding.

   civil architecture, the architecture which is employed in
      constructing buildings for the purposes of civil life, in
      distinction from military and naval architecture, as
      private houses, palaces, churches, etc.

   civil death. law. see under death.

   civil engineering. see under engineering.

   civil law. see under law.

   civil list. see under list.

   civil remedy law, that given to a person injured, by
      action, as opposed to a criminal prosecution.

   civil service, all service rendered to and paid for by the
      state or nation other than that pertaining to naval or
      military affairs.

   civil service reform, the substitution of business
      principles and methods for the spoils system in the
      conduct of the civil service, esp. in the matter of
      appointments to office.

   civil state, the whole body of the laity or citizens not
      included under the military, maritime, and ecclesiastical
      states.

   civil suit. same as civil action.

   civil war. see under war.

   civil year. see under year.
      1913 webster
see also:
city civil action civil architecture civil death death civil engineering 
engineering civil law law civil list list 
civil remedy civil service civil service reform civil state civil suit 
civil war war civil year year 

[2] : WordNet (r) 2.0

civil
     adj 1: applying to ordinary citizens; "civil law"; "civil
            authorities"
     2: not rude; marked by satisfactory or especially minimal
        adherence to social usages and sufficient but not
        noteworthy consideration for others; "even if he didn't
        like them he should have been civil"- w.s. maugham syn: polite
        ant: uncivil
     3: of or occurring within the state or between or among
        citizens of the state; "civil affairs"; "civil strife";
        "civil disobediece"; "civil branches of government"
     4: of or relating to or befitting citizens as individuals;
        "civil rights"; "civil liberty"; "civic duties"; "civic
        pride" syn: civic
     5: of divisions of time legally recognized in ordinary
        affairs of life; "the civil calendar"; "a civil day begins
        at mean midnight" ant: sidereal
     6: of or in a condition of social order; "civil peoples"
see also:
polite uncivil civic sidereal 

[3] : Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0

131 moby thesaurus words for "civil":
   absolute, accommodating, affable, agreeable, amiable, appropriate,
   aristocratic, attentive, authoritarian, autocratic, autonomous,
   becoming, bland, bureaucratic, civic, civilian, civilized,
   clubbable, clubbish, clubby, common, communal, communicative,
   companionable, companionate, compatible, complaisant, congenial,
   congregational, considerate, constitutional, cordial, cosmopolitan,
   courteous, courtly, cultivated, decent, decorous, deferential,
   democratic, despotic, dictatorial, diplomatic, domestic, fair,
   fascist, federal, federalist, federalistic, felicitous,
   fit for society, fitting, fond of society, formal, friendly,
   general, genial, genteel, governmental, graceful, gracious,
   gregarious, gubernatorial, happy, heteronomous, hospitable,
   impolite, internal, international, laic, laical, lay, mannered,
   mannerly, matriarchal, matriarchic, meet, monarchal, monarchial,
   monarchic, monocratic, national, nonclerical, nonecclesiastical,
   nonministerial, nonordained, nonpastoral, nonreligious, obliging,
   official, oligarchal, oligarchic, parliamentarian, parliamentary,
   patriarchal, patriarchic, pluralistic, polished, polite, politic,
   political, popular, proper, public, refined, republican,
   respectful, right, secular, secularist, secularistic, seemly,
   self-governing, sociable, social, social-minded, societal,
   solicitous, state, suave, suitable, supranational, tactful,
   temporal, theocratic, thoughtful, totalitarian, ungracious, urbane,
   well-bred, well-mannered

[4] : Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856)

civil. this word has various significations. 1. it is used in 
contradistinction to barbarous or savage, to indicate a state of society 
reduced to order and regular government; thus we speak of civil life, civil 
society, civil government, and civil liberty 
     2. it is sometimes used in contradistinction to criminal, to indicate 
the private rights and remedies of men, as members of the community, in 
contrast to those which are public and relate to the government; thus we 
speak of civil process and criminal process, civil jurisdiction and criminal 
jurisdiction. 
     3. it is also used in contradistinction to military or ecclesiastical, 
to natural or foreign; thus we speak of a civil station, as opposed to a 
military or ecclesiastical station, a civil death as opposed to a natural 
death; a civil war as opposed to a foreign war. story on the const. sec. 789;

1 bl. coin. 6, 125, 251; montesq. sp. of laws, b 1, c. 3; ruth. inst. b. 2, 
c. 2; id. ch. 3id. ch. 8, p. 359; hein. elem. jurisp. nat. b. 2, ch. 6. 

Civil >> C Words
Civil, definition of term: Civil
civil_pag1.html

Civil Servant >> C Words
Civil Servant, definition of term: Civil Servant
civil+servant_pag1.html

Civil Rights >> C Words
Civil Rights, definition of term: Civil Rights
civil+rights_pag1.html

Civil Right >> C Words
Civil Right, definition of term: Civil Right
civil+right_pag1.html

Civil Service >> C Words
Civil Service, definition of term: Civil Service
civil+service_pag1.html

Civil Suit >> C Words
Civil Suit, definition of term: Civil Suit
civil+suit_pag1.html

Civil Wrong >> C Words
Civil Wrong, definition of term: Civil Wrong
civil+wrong_pag1.html

Civil War >> C Words
Civil War, definition of term: Civil War
civil+war_pag1.html

Civil Marriage >> C Words
Civil Marriage, definition of term: Civil Marriage
civil+marriage_pag1.html

Civil Law >> C Words
Civil Law, definition of term: Civil Law
civil+law_pag1.html

Page 1 2 Next