英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

civil disobedience (n.)[civil disobedience 词源字典]: coined 1866 by Thoreau as title of an essay originally published (1849) as "Resistance to Civil Government."[civil disobedience etymology, civil disobedience origin, 英语词源]
civil rights (n.): 1721, American English; specifically of black U.S. citizens from 1866.
civil service (n.): c. 1785, originally in reference to non-military staff of the East India Company. Civil servant is from 1800.
civil union (n.): by 2000, the usual U.S. term for legally recognized same-sex unions short of marriage.
civil war (n.): "battles among fellow citizens or within a community," from civil in a sense of "occurring among fellow citizens" attested from late 14c. in batayle ciuile "civil battle," etc. The exact phrase civil war is attested from late 15c. (the Latin phrase was bella civicus). An Old English word for it was ingewinn. Ancient Greek had polemos epidemios.

Early use typically was in reference to ancient Rome. Later, in England, to the struggle between Parliament and Charles I (1641-1651); in U.S., to the War of Secession (1861-1865), an application often decried as wholly inaccurate but in use (among other names) in the North during the war and boosted by the use of the term in the popular "Battles and Leaders of the Civil War" series published 1884-87 in "Century Magazine."
"The war between the States," which a good many Southerners prefer, is both bookish and inexact. "Civil war" is an utter misnomer. It was used and is still used by courteous people, the same people who are careful to say "Federal" and "Confederate." "War of the rebellion," which begs the very question at issue, has become the official designation of the struggle, but has found no acceptance with the vanquished. To this day no Southerner uses it except by way of quotation .... "The war of secession" is still used a good deal in foreign books, but it has no popular hold. "The war," without any further qualification, served the turn of Thucydides and Aristophanes for the Peloponnesian war. It will serve ours, let it be hoped, for some time to come. [Basil L. Gildersleeve, "The Creed of the Old South," 1915]
civilian (n.): late 14c., "judge or authority on civil law," from Old French civilien "of the civil law," created from Latin civilis "relating to a citizen, relating to public life, befitting a citizen; popular, affable, courteous" (see civil). Sense of "non-military person" is attested by 1819 (earlier in this sense was civilian, attested from c. 1600 as "non-soldier"). The adjective is from 1640s.
civilisation (n.): chiefly British English spelling of civilization. Also see -ize.
civility (n.): late 14c., "status of a citizen," from Old French civilite (14c.), from Latin civitatem (nominative civitas) "the art of governing; courteousness," from cvilis "relating to a citizen, relating to public life, befitting a citizen; popular, affable, courteous" (see civil). Later especially "good citizenship" (1530s). Also "state of being civilized" (1540s); "behavior proper to civilized persons" (1560s).
civilization (n.): 1704, "law which makes a criminal process civil," from civilize + -ation. Sense of "civilized condition" first recorded 1772, probably from French civilisation, to be an opposite to barbarity and a distinct word from civility. Sense of a particular human society in a civilized condition, considered as a whole over time, is from 1857. Related: Civilizational.
civilize (v.): c. 1600, "to bring out of barbarism," from French civiliser, verb from Old French civil (adj.), from Latin civilis "relating to a citizen, relating to public life, befitting a citizen; popular, affable, courteous" (see civil). Meaning "become civilized" is from 1868. Related: Civilized; civilizing.
civilized (adj.): 1610s, past participle adjective from civilize.
civilly (adv.): 1550s, "with reference to citizenship or civil matters," also "in a well-bred manner;" from civil + -ly (2).
civvy (n.): 1889, civvies, short for civilian clothes (see civilian (adj.)); in reference to civilian clothes of military men.
clabber (n.): "mud," 1824, from Irish and Gaelic clabar "mud." Also often short for bonnyclabber.
clachan (n.): "small village" (Scottish and Irish), early 15c., from Gaelic clach (plural clachan) "stone."
clack (v.): mid-13c., not in Old English, from Old Norse klaka "to chatter," of echoic origin; compare Dutch klakken "to clack, crack," Old High German kleken, French claquer "to clap, crack (see claque). Related: Clacked; clacking.
clack (n.): mid-15c., from clack (v.).
clad (adj.): "clothed," c. 1300, mid-13c., from clad, alternative past tense and past participle of clothe. Old English had geclæþd, past participle of clæþan.
claddagh: in Claddagh ring (Irish fáinne Chladach), from village of Claddagh, County Gallway. The village name is literally "stony beach."
clade (n.): "group of organisms evolved from a common ancestor," 1957, from Greek klados "young branch, offshoot of a plant, shoot broken off," from PIE *kele-, possibly from root *kel- (1) "to strike, cut" (see holt).