civility
/sɪˈvɪl.ɪ.ti/
"civility" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“civility” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #27,772 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #27,772
- frequency rank, English
- 8
- letters
- 12
- tracked misspellings
- 1
- confusable pair
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Speech or behaviour that is fit for civil interactions; politeness, courtesy.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | civility |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /sɪˈvɪl.ɪ.ti/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #27,772 |
| Misspellings tracked | 12 |
| Confusable pairs | 1 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “civility” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for civility is 8 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /sɪˈvɪl.ɪ.ti/. Corpus data places it at rank #27,772 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for civility, with forms such as "ccivility", "ciivlity", and "civiilty". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "civilian", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Latin civilitas: compare French civilité. English equivalent civil + -ity. The correct English form is civility, spelled C-I-V-I-L-I-T-Y.
Definition
- 1Speech or behaviour that is fit for civil interactions; politeness, courtesy.
- 2An individual act or expression of polite behaviour; a courtesy.
- 3The state or fact of being civilized; civilization.
- 4A civil office; a civil capacity.
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin civilitas: compare French civilité. English equivalent civil + -ity.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ccivility,ciivlity,civiilty,civilitty,civilityy,civiliyt,civillity,civiltiy,civliity,civvility,cviility,icvility
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of civility - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "civility"?
What does "civility" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "civility"?
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What is the origin of the word "civility"?
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Using “civility”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is C-I-V-I-L-I-T-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /sɪˈvɪl.ɪ.ti/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “civilian” - see the side-by-side comparison. civility vs civilian
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.