civil society
noun
civil society is a noun meaning “All of the institutions, voluntary organizations and corporate bodies that are less than the state but greater than the family” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is spelled C-I-V-I-L-S-O-C-I-E-T-Y. The plural of civil society is civil societies.
What does civil society mean?
noun
- 1
All of the institutions, voluntary organizations and corporate bodies that are less than the state but greater than the family.
- 2
Those things expected of a democratic society, such as free speech and human rights.
- 3
Organized, internally peaceful human society; civilization.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you pronounce civil society?
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-civil_society.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of civil society
- civil societies plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Civil society in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense institutions, voluntary organizations and corporate bodies:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | société civile |
| German | Bürgergesellschaft, bürgerliche Gesellschaft (Hegelianism), Zivilgesellschaft |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does civil society come from?
From the archaic sense of civil, “peaceful and well-ordered”. Later senses of civil society reflect 19th-century Hegelian influence, as well as the earlier argument that tyrannical governments exist in the state of nature in relation to their subjects.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).