Civil
['sɪv(ə)l;-ɪl] or ['sɪvl]
Definition
(adj.) of or in a condition of social order; 'civil peoples' .
(adj.) 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 .
(adj.) (of divisions of time) legally recognized in ordinary affairs of life; 'the civil calendar'; 'a civil day begins at mean midnight' .
(adj.) applying to ordinary citizens as contrasted with the military; 'civil authorities' .
(adj.) of or relating to or befitting citizens as individuals; 'civil rights'; 'civil liberty'; 'civic duties'; 'civic pride' .
(adj.) of or occurring within the state or between or among citizens of the state; 'civil affairs'; 'civil strife'; 'civil disobedience'; 'civil branches of government' .
Edited by Kelsey--From WordNet
Definition
(a.) 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.
(a.) Subject to government; reduced to order; civilized; not barbarous; -- said of the community.
(a.) Performing the duties of a citizen; obedient to government; -- said of an individual.
(a.) Having the manners of one dwelling in a city, as opposed to those of savages or rustics; polite; courteous; complaisant; affable.
(a.) Pertaining to civic life and affairs, in distinction from military, ecclesiastical, or official state.
(a.) Relating to rights and remedies sought by action or suit distinct from criminal proceedings.
Typed by Ada
Synonyms and Synonymous
a. [1]. Civilized, not savage.[2]. Municipal, political, civic, not military.[3]. Intestine, domestic, not foreign.[4]. Courteous, ceremonious, polite, refined, complaisant, urbane, obliging, affable, debonair, easy, gracious, well-bred.
Checked by Joseph
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Well-mannered, political, courteous, well-bred, complaisant, affable, urbane,polite, obliging, accommodating, respectful
ANT:Disobliging, unaccommodating, disrespectful, boorish, clownish, churlish,uncivil
Typed by Anton
Definition
adj. pertaining to the community: having the refinement of city-bred people: polite: commercial not military: lay secular or temporal not ecclesiastical: pertaining to the individual citizen: (law) relating to private relations amongst citizens and such suits as arise out of these as opposed to criminal: (theol.) naturally good as opposed to good through regeneration.—ns. Civil′ian a professor or student of civil law (not canon law): one engaged in civil as distinguished from military and other pursuits; Civ′ilist one versed in civil law; Civil′ity good-breeding: politeness.—adv. Civ′illy.—adj. Civ′il-suit′ed (Milton) sombrely clad.—n. Civ′ism good citizenship state of being well-affected to the government.—Civil death the loss of all civil and legal but not natural privileges as by outlawry: Civil engineer one who plans rail-ways docks &c. as opposed to a military engineer or to a mechanical engineer who makes machines &c.; Civil law as opposed to criminal law: the law laid down by a state regarding the rights of the inhabitants; Civil list now the expenses of the sovereign's household only; Civil list pensions those granted by royal favour; Civil service the paid service of the state in so far as it is not military or naval; Civil war a war between citizens of the same state.
Checker: Roland
Examples
- To my inexperience we at first appeared on the eve of a civil war; each party was violent, acrimonious, and unyielding. Mary Shelley. The Last Man.
- The stranger insisted on making Mr. Godfrey precede him; Mr. Godfrey said a few civil words; they bowed, and parted in the street. Wilkie Collins. The Moonstone.
- I made the first civil excuse that occurred to me for leaving Mr. Gilmore, and returned at once to the house. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- But, he, Pablo, blinded the _guardia civil_ who was wounded, the gypsy insisted. Hemingway, Ernest. For Whom The Bell Tolls.
- Elinor made her a civil reply, and they walked on for a few minutes in silence. Jane Austen. Sense and Sensibility.
- The acquisition of valuable and extensive property, therefore, necessarily requires the establishment of civil government. Adam Smith. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
- There, you are less than civil now; and I like rudeness a great deal better than flattery. Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre.
- Pray do everything on my behalf that is civil to Mr and Mrs Gowan, for we will--ha--we will certainly notice them. Charles Dickens. Little Dorrit.
- I had assured myself that the man was sober as well as civil before I let her enter the vehicle. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- That is all very proper and civil, I am sure, said Mrs. Bennet, and I dare say she is a very agreeable woman. Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice.
- Law,' replied Mr. Grummer--'Law, civil power, and exekative; them's my titles; here's my authority. Charles Dickens. The Pickwick Papers.
- However, private individuals and companies continued to invent and improve, and the civil war in America revolutionised the systems of warfare and its weapons. William Henry Doolittle. Inventions in the Century.
- To obey the civil magistrate is requisite to preserve order and concord in society. David Hume. A Treatise of Human Nature.
- It signifies, he intimated, bloodshed and civil conflict. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- Pull it farther back and let it snap lightly forward,' the _civil_ said, and I have never heard such a tone of voice. Hemingway, Ernest. For Whom The Bell Tolls.
- Elizabeth disdained the appearance of noticing this civil reflection, but its meaning did not escape, nor was it likely to conciliate her. Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice.
- We killed a pair of _guardia civil_, he said, explaining the military saddles. Hemingway, Ernest. For Whom The Bell Tolls.
- She was always a very affable and free-spoken young lady, and very civil behaved. Jane Austen. Sense and Sensibility.
- But there's one thing you might do for me; and that is, just to be a little civil to Rosedale. Edith Wharton. The House of Mirth.
- It was this weapon which in the Civil War gave proof of the deadly efficacy of the breech-loading magazine gun, and its superiority to the old style military arm. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
- But the Stamp Act affair was only one eddy in a turbulent stream flowing towards civil war. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- She was civil, kind, attentive even to her cousins; but still she usually had little to say to them. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- The young man was civil and humble, and kept a proper distance; and was rather a bore. Harriette Wilson. The Memoirs of Harriette Wilson.
- The submarine next came into practical view during the American Civil War, when the Confederate government built several such vessels, known usually as Davids from their inventor. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- That would, indeed, be a civil war of the worst description: we should rather, through the instrumentality of men of science, soften the asper ities of national hostility. Walter Libby. An Introduction to the History of Science.
- For myself, my Canterbury Pilgrimage has done much; imprisonment on civil process, and want, will soon do more. Charles Dickens. David Copperfield.
- Though the object of our civil duties be the enforcing of our natural, yet the first [First in time, not in dignity or force. David Hume. A Treatise of Human Nature.
- I myself had felt much emotion at the shooting of the _guardia civil_ by Pablo, Pilar said. Hemingway, Ernest. For Whom The Bell Tolls.
- They sought (hating war as most of them did) to establish a universal culture, or, as they phrased it, a constant intelligence throughout all civil nations. Walter Libby. An Introduction to the History of Science.
- Some of the European troops committed grave atrocities upon the Chinese civil population. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
Checker: Roland