civil: [14] Latin cīvis ‘citizen’ had two adjectival derivatives which have passed into English: cīvicus, source of civic [16], and cīvīlis, from which, via Old French, we get civil. Of its derivatives, civility [14] comes from Latin cīvīlitās, but civilize [17] and civilian [14] are French creations. => civilize, city
civil (adj.)
late 14c., "relating to civil law or life; pertaining to the internal affairs of a state," from Old French civil "civil, relating to civil law" (13c.) and directly from Latin civilis "relating to a citizen, relating to public life, befitting a citizen," hence by extension "popular, affable, courteous;" alternative adjectival derivation of civis "townsman" (see city).
The sense of "polite" was in classical Latin, from the courteous manners of citizens, as opposed to those of soldiers. But English did not pick up this nuance of the word until late 16c. "Courteous is thus more commonly said of superiors, civil of inferiors, since it implies or suggests the possibility of incivility or rudeness" [OED]. Civil case (as opposed to criminal) is recorded from 1610s. Civil liberty is by 1640s. Civil service is from 1772, originally in reference to the East India Company.
实用例句
1. The strike has taken on overtones of a civil rights campaign.
罢工带上了民权运动的意味。
来自柯林斯例句
2. The Channel Tunnel project is the biggest civil engineering project in Europe.
英吉利海峡隧道是欧洲最大的土木工程。
来自柯林斯例句
3. There are other forms of civil disorder — most notably, football hooliganism.
还有其他形式的民众骚乱，最出名的是足球流氓行为。
来自柯林斯例句
4. A gentleman should always be civil, even to his inferiors.
绅士应该总是彬彬有礼,即便是对地位不及自己者.
来自柯林斯例句
5. The civil war is obstructing distribution of famine relief by aid agencies.
