Dictionary Entry
civil
Part of SpeechadjectivePronunciation/ˈsɪv.əl/Word FrequencyCommon (5.89)Curriculum FrequencyLess common (1)Having to do with people and government office as opposed to the military or religion.
In a Sentence
“She went into civil service because she wanted to help the people.”
Published Usage Examples
“With the spread of internal purges inside the Communist Party of Kampuchea, having been a civil servant of a previous regime was no longer required to earn a death sentence; increasingly, civil servants or cadre from within Democratic Kampuchea itself were widely rounded up and terminated.”
“So that of civil honour the fountain is in the person of the commonwealth, and dependeth on the will of the sovereign; and is therefore temporary, and called civil honour, such as magistracy, offices, titles, and, in some places, coats and scutcheons painted; and men honour such as have them, as having so many signs”
This entry also appears in ReadingWillow Year 11 word lists, so students can move between the dictionary and year-level study sets.
Origin
Late Middle English: from Latin civilis, from civis 'citizen'.
Common Phrases
Related Words
Poetry examples for “civil”
Excerpts from the ReadingWillow English Library collection.
Poetry examples are still being gathered for this entry. They will appear here once matching poems are available in the library.
