GNU Collaborative International Dictionary of English

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1.       
   Civil , a. [L. civilis, fr. civis citizen: cf. F. civil. See City.]
   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.
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   Subject to government; reduced to order; civilized; not barbarous; -- said of the community.
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   England was very rude and barbarous; for it is but even the other day since England grew civil.
   Spenser.
   
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   Performing the duties of a citizen; obedient to government; -- said of an individual.
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   Civil men come nearer the saints of God than others; they come within a step or two of heaven.
   Preston
   
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   Having the manners of one dwelling in a city, as opposed to those of savages or rustics; polite; courteous; complaisant; affable.
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   ☞ “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
   
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   Pertaining to civic life and affairs, in distinction from military, ecclesiastical, or official state.
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   Relating to rights and remedies sought by action or suit distinct from criminal proceedings.
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   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.
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