civil
French, noun/si.vil/
civil is spelled C-I-V-I-L (5 letters) and appears 30 times per million words in written French, the 2,670th most frequent French word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Civil is a French masculine noun meaning “civilian” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) defines it as “Statut des citoyens qui ne sont pas militaires”.
What does civil mean in English?
adjective
- 1
civil
- 2
lay
- 3
civilian
- 4
civil, courteous, polite
Near-synonyms: courtois, poli
noun
- 1
masculinecivilian
Source: English Wiktionary, French section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How French dictionaries define it
adjective: 1. Citoyen ; relatif aux citoyens. 2. Relatif à l’état civil des personnes. 3. Qualifie le droit relatif à la personne physique, c’est-à-dire l'ensemble des règles qui déterminent le statut des personnes, aux relations juridiques entre elles, et aux biens. → voir droit civil 4. Qui n'est ni militaire, ni religieux, ni politique.
noun: 1. Statut des citoyens qui ne sont pas militaires 2. Personne de la population qui n'a pas le statut de combattant et qui n'est ni un prisonnier de guerre, ni un combattant ne prenant plus part aux hostilités (blessé, naufragé, malade, etc). 3. Partie de la justice qui ressortit du code civil.
The definition in the French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), in French.
Source: French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of civil
- civile feminine
- civils masculine plural
- civiles feminine plural
Source: English Wiktionary and French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce civil?
- /si.vil/
- \si.vil\
- [si.vil]
Sources: English Wiktionary, French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to civil
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is civil in French?
civil appears 30 times per million words in written French.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).