Meaning

4 senses
  1. (countable, uncountable)Speech or behaviour that is fit for civil interactions; politeness, courtesy.

    December 1749 Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield, letter to his son The insolent civility of a proud man is, if possible, more shocking than his rudeness could be.

    Anstand, Höflichkeit, Verbindlichkeit

    ве́жливостьvéžlivostʹ, учти́востьučtívostʹ, любе́зностьljubéznostʹ

  2. (countable, in the plural, uncountable)An individual act or expression of polite behaviour; a courtesy.

  3. (archaic, countable, uncountable)The state or fact of being civilized; civilization.

  4. (countable, obsolete, uncountable)A civil office; a civil capacity.

More definitions
  • formal or perfunctory politeness
  • the act of showing regard for others

Examples

5 sentences
  1. She answered him with cold civility.

  2. One step forward is a step towards civility.

  3. Humanity is experiencing a global crisis of civility.

  4. This is a sensitive topic, so we have to approach this discussion with civility and maturity.

  5. Why am I not surprised they started preaching for unity and civility and compassion, only after their coup failed?

Translations

7 languages
Русский
By meaning 1
politeness; behavior which conforms to social conventions:
Deutsch
By meaning 1
politeness; behavior which conforms to social conventions:

Origin

Borrowed from Latin civilitas: compare French civilité. English equivalent civil + -ity.

Borrowed from Latin civilitas: compare French civilité. English equivalent civil + -ity.

Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source

Forms

plural: civilities
Singularcivility
Pluralcivilities

regular

Synonyms

1 synonyms
Close in meaning

Antonyms

1 antonyms

Word family

4 related words

See also

neighbours in the dictionary
civility — meaning, examples, forms, synonyms | Krumeto