civil (sivil)

[Early mod. E. civill; = D. civiel = G. Dan. Sw. civil, 1; Besides the gifts wherewith he was enriched, and the civill author i tie wherewith he was dignified. Purchas , Pilgrimage, p. 64. Where the Par lament sitts, there inseparably sitts the King, there the Laws, there our Oaths, and whatsoever can be civil in Religion. Milton, Eikon ok las tes, xix. 2. Specifically, relating to the commonwealth opposed to ecclesiastical, military, or naval; as secularly organized for purposes of peace: relating to the citizen in his relations to the commonwealth as thus organized, or to his fellow-citizens: as, civil rights; or, in particular, relating to property and other rights maintainable in law at the owner's suit: opposed to criminal: as, civil actions, civil courts, civil remedies. Christ himself was a great observer of the Civil power, and did many things only justifiable because the State requir'd it. Selden, Table-Talk, p. 88. 3. Reduced to order, rule, and government; not in a condition of anarchy; controlled by a regular administration; exhibiting some refinement of customs and manners; not savage or wild; civilized: as, civil life; civil society. civet-cat (siv'et-kat), n. 1. The animal from which civet is obtained; a carnivorous quadruped of the family Viverridæ and genus Vi verra, having well-developed anal glands se Civet-cat (Viverra civetta). IMG:content-0496.png:[blocks in formation] Thou sober-suited matron, all in black. Shak., R. and J., iii. 2. That fourteen yard of satin give my woman, I do not like the color, 'tis too civil . Beau . and Fl ., Woman-Prize, iii. 3. Civil action. See action, 8.- Civil architecture, corporation. See the nouns.- Civil crown. Same as civic crown (which see, under civic). - Civil damage act, civil damage law, the name commonly given to a statute adopted, in varying forms, in a number of the United States, making the seller of intoxicating liquor liable civilly in damages to those injured by the intoxicated person, including his family, if their means of support are impaired by his intoxication.- Civil day, death, engineering, etc. See the nouns. - Civil law. (a) That part of the laws of a state or nation which concerns the civil power as distinguished from the military power and foreign relations, and regulates within the territorial jurisdiction the rights of persons and property, except when superseded by the military power in time of war. ( b ) More specifically, the municipal law of the Roman empire, the phrase jus civile (civil law) being used in Roman law for those rules and principles of law which were thought to be peculiar to the Roman people, in contradistinction to those which were supposed to be common to all nations ( jus gentium ). By English and American legal authors civil law is now commonly used to signify the whole system of Roman law, of which the principal source is the collection made by the Emperor Just in i an, consisting of the Digest, Code, and Novellæ Const i tut i ones. Sometimes the term is also applied to the unwritten law of the principal nations of continental Europe, especially of Germany, which is based on the Roman law. Some authors speak in the latter case of modern civil law. The civil law is the basis also of the law of Scotland, Spanish America, Louisiana, and Quebec. - Civil liberty, natural liberty so far restrained by human laws (and so far only) as is nece ary and expedient for the public good. Minor.Civil list, the sum annually allowed to the sovereign of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland for the support of his (or her) household and the dignity of the crown. This sum has been fixed by statute (1) Vict., c. 2) at £385,000, as follows: For her Majesty's privy purse, £60,000; salaries of her Majesty's household and retired allowances, £131,260; expenses of her Majesty's household, £172,500; royal bounty, alms, and special services, £13,200; and unappropriated moneys, £8,040. Besides this, £1,200 per annum is allowed for pensions. - Civil marriage. See marriage. Civil Rights Act, an act of the United States Congre of 1875 (18 Stat., 335), forbidding the exclusion of any person from the enjoyment of inns, public conveyances, theaters, etc., on account of race or color. - Civil Rights Bill, an act of the United States Congre of 1866 (14 Stat., 27), conferring citizenship upon all persons born in the United States, not subjects of other powers, "of every race and color, without regard to any previous condition of slavery. It specially affected the recently emancipated slaves. Civil rights cases, the name by which the decisions of the United States Supreme Court in Strauder v. West Virginia, 1879 (100 U. S., 303), and five other cases, 1883 (109 U. S., 3), are frequently referred to, which discu the effect of the thirteenth and fourteenth amendments the Constitution of the United States the legal status of freedmen. Civil servant, an official of a forces: especially applied to such an official in British India. government not belonging to either its military or its naval 4. Intestine; not foreign: as, civil war. The whole Land with civil broils was rent into five Kingdoms, long time waging Warr each on other. Milton , Hist. Eng., i. IMG:content-0497.png:[blocks in formation] IMG:content-0498.png:[blocks in formation] IMG:content-0499.png:[blocks in formation] D. Rogers. 5. A covenanted civil servant in British India. II. a. Pertaining to or characteristic of a civilian. To the civilian mind it might seem that, when a king writes up an inscription to record his buildings, he wishes that inscription to be read of all men for all time. E. A. Freeman , Venice, p. 296. civilisable, civilisation, etc. See civilizable , civilization , etc.