War is not the only seemingly contradictory word which may be joined with civil disobedience is often found directly following it as well. Sextus Julius Frontinus, The strategemes, sleyghtes, and policies of warre (trans. When Cesar in the cyuill warre, had enclosed the hoste of Affranius and Pe|treius within a trenche, he pyned theym with thyrste, in so moche that they therby exasperated, distroyed all that withstode them, and profered to fyght. Valentine Leigh, The pleasaunt playne and pythye pathewaye, 1522 With this pestilence, the famouse Rome being once poysoned,īy cyuill warre, and oppression, was vtterly destroyed. It is this sense of civil, rather than the “mannerly” one, which gives us civil war, with its meaning of “a war between opposing groups of citizens of the same country.”Ĭivil began being used in the 14th century, and civil war entered the lexicon early in the 16th.įurther, pride, of thee, is to be abhorred no lesse,īeynge of stryfe, and debate, the mother, and mistresse,īy this, the lawes, ar neglected, and the common welth spylled,Īnd innumerable people, this vayne pryde, hath kylled, While civil may indeed have all the peaceful meanings above, the earliest sense of the word in English is simply “of or relating to citizens.” This early meaning of civil mirrors that of its Latin predecessor, civilis (which came from civis, meaning “citizen”). The term entered the lexicon in the early 16th century.Īmong the many meanings of the word civil are “quiet and peaceable in behavior,” “civilized,” and “mannerly.” The semantic nonbelligerence of these senses has prompted more than one person to pause in whatever they were doing and wonder “what’s so civil about civil war?” The Meaning and History of 'Civil'
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