city 
London, the metropolis of England, which constituted the 
original city. It lies on the north bank of the Thames, 
extending from Temple Bar on the west to the Tower on 
the east, and as far north as Kinsbury. It covers an area 
of 668 acres, constitutes !i county in itself (see county), and 
is governed by a lord mayor, elected by the trade guilds. 
26 aldermen holding office for life, elected by the wards, 
and a common council of 20G members. The great busi- 
ness and commercial interests of London are chietiy cen- 
tered in this district. 
II. a. 1. Pertaining to a city; urban: as, a 
city feast; city manners; "city wives," Sliak., 
Rich. III., iii. 7. 
A city clerk, but gently born. Tennyson, Sea Dreams. 
2. Pertaining to the class of tradespeople, as 
opposed to people of birth. [Eng.] 
My new city-dame, send me what you promised me for 
consideration, and mayest thou prove a lady. 
Beau, and Ft., Woman-Hater, v. 3. 
City article, in English newspapers, the editorial sum- 
mary of the commercial or financial news of the day, and 
remarks upon it. City court, in the United States, a mu- 
nicipal court, or a court whose jurisdiction is coextensive 
with a city. City editor, in Great Britain, the editor on 
the staff of a newspaper whose duty it is to superintend the 
preparation of the city or financial article ; in the United 
States, the editor who superintends the collection and 
classification of local news. City flat-capt, formerly, a 
cap with a flat top, sometimes of cloth, sometimes of knit- 
ted wool, worn especially by citizens of London. The mod- 
ern muffin-cap is derived from it. Also called statute 
cap. City item, in American newspapers, an item of 
local or city news, as distinguished from foreign or gen- 
eral news. City man. (a) A man engaged in business 
in that part of London which is called " the City." (6) 
One engaged in mercantile pursuits, as distinguished from 
one whose interests are landed, agricultural, or profes- 
sional ; a business man. [Eng.] 
He had made his mark in the mercantile world as a 
thoroughly representative City-man. 
T. W. lliggiuson, Eng. Statesmen, p. 350. 
City swordt, a sword worn by gentlemen in the city, 
that is, in private life, as distinguished from the sword 
used in war. See sword, rapier, and small sword (under 
sword). City wardt, a watchman, or the watchmen col- 
lectively, of a city. Fairfax. 
cityward (sit'i-ward), adv. [< city + -ward.'] 
Toward the city ; in the direction of the city. 
Look cityward and see the trains flying. 
The Century, XXVI. 823. 
Civaistic, a. See Sivaistic. 
cive (siv), n. [Also chive 2 , q. v. ; usually in pi. 
dues; < F. dee, < L. cepa, ctrpa, also ccpe, cape, 
an onion.] A small bulbous garden-plant, Al- 
lium Schcmoprasum, of the same genus as the 
leek and onion, cultivated as a pot-herb. Also 
chive, chive-garlic. 
civeryt, severyt, [Perhaps corrupted from 
cintry, centry, in a somewhat similar sense.] 
In arch. : (a) A bay or compartment in a 
vaulted roof. (6) A compartment or division 
of scaffolding. Oxford Glossary. 
civet 1 (siv'et), n. [Early mod. E. also sivet, 
zivet, < F. civette = Gr. zibcth, < It. cibetto, zi- 
betto, formerly also guibctto (NL. civetta), < 
MGr. fajTtTiof, civet, fafffrK, civet-cat (NGr. 
&[iirTi), < Ar. rafc&ad, eubad = Pers. rafcarf, 
the froth of milk or water, civet.] 1. The 
secretion of the anal glands of the civet-cats, 
used in perfumery, etc. It is an unctuous resinous 
substance, of an aromatic odor like musk or ambergris, of 
the consistence of butter or honey, of a pale-yellowish 
color, and contains a volatile oil to which it owes its smell, 
together with resin, fat, mucus, and extractive matters. 
Civet is of a baser birth than tar ; the very uncleanly 
flux of a cat. Sliak., As you Like it, iii. 2. 
I cannot talk with civet in the room. 
Cowper, Conversation. 
2. (a) The civet-cat. (b) pi. The animals of 
the genus Viverra or family Viverridai. 
Civet 1 (siv'et), v. t. [< civet 1 , .] To scent 
with civet ; perfume. 
Fops at all corners, ladylike in mien, 
Civeted fellows, smelt ere they are seen. 
Cowper, Tirocinium, 1. 830. 
Ciyet 2 t (siv'et), )!. [F. civet (so called from the 
cives with which it is flavored), < civc, cive.] 
A stew, usually of rabbit or hare, flavored with 
onion, cives, garlic, or the like. 
civet-cat (siv'et-kat), n. 1. The animal from 
which civet is obtained; a carnivorous quad- 
ruped of the family Viverridce and genus Vi- 
verra, having well-developed anal glands se- 
Civet-cat (ffvtrra cvuetta). 
1020 
ereting civet. There are several species, the best- 
kmnvn of which is that of northern Africa, V. civetta, 
about 2 feet long, of a yellowish-gray color, and marked 
with dusky spots disposed in rows. It is kept in confine- 
ment, especially in Abyssinia, the principal seat of the 
civet trade, for the sake of the secretion, which is taken 
from the bug twice a week, a dram being a large yield. 
When thus kept they are fed on raw flesh with the view 
of increasing the quantity of civet. 
2. pi. The civets ; the animals of the family Vi- 
verridte, as the genets, ichneumons, and many 
others American civet-cat, Safaris astuta. See 
liiixmirix.- Civet-cat fruit, the durian. See Duria. 
Civetta (si-vet'a), n. [NL. (Cuvier).] A genus 
of civet-cats. See Viverra. 
civic (siv'ik), a. [= F. civique = Sp. cirieo = 
Pg. It. civico, < L. civicus, < civis, a citizen : see 
city.'] Pertaining to a city or to citizenship; 
relating to civil life or affairs. 
In the civic acceptation of the word, I am a merchant. 
T. Hook, Gilbert Gurney, iii. 2. 
At civic revel and pomp and game. 
Tennyson, Duke of Wellington, vi. 
A candid examination will show that the Christian civ- 
ilisations have been as inferior to the Pagan ones in civic 
and intellectual virtues as they have been superior to 
them in the virtues of humanity and of chastity. 
Lecky, Europ. Morals, II. 148. 
Civic crown, garland, or wreath, in Rom. antiq., a 
crown or garland of oak-leaves bestowed on a soldier who 
had saved the life of a citizen in battle. 
The commonwealth owes him a civic garland. 
B. Jvnson, Catiline, v. 4. 
Many a civic wreath they won, 
The youthful sire and the gray-haired son. 
0. W. Holmes, Dorothy Q. 
civical (siv'i-kal), a. [< civic + -al.] Civic. 
Sir T. Browne. 
Civics (siv'iks), n. [PI. of civic: see -ics.] The 
science of civil government ; the principles of 
government in their application to society. 
civiere (siv-i-ar'), n. [< F. civiere = It. dial. 
civiera, scivera, < civeo, civea, a barrow or sledge, 
perhaps < ML. cwnovehmn, a barrow in which 
to convey filth, < L. ccenum, prop, ccenum, filth, 
4- vehere, carry.] 1. A small hand-barrow 
carried by two men. 2. A litter used by artil- 
lery. Williclm, Mil. Diet. 
civil (siv'il), a. [Early mod. E. civil!; = D. civicl 
= G. Dan. Sw. civil, < F. civil = Sp. Pg. civil (Pg. 
also civcl, civil (law), also rustic) = It. civile, < 
L. cirilis, belonging to a citizen, civic, political, 
urbane, courteous, civil, < civis, a citizen: see 
city.'] 1. Pertaining to the state in general; 
pertaining to organized society as represented 
by government. 
Besides the gifts wherewith he was enriched, and the 
civill authoritie wherewith he was dignified. 
Purchas, Pilgrimage, p. 64. 
Where the Parlament sitts, there inseparably sitts the 
King, there the Laws, there our Oaths, and whatsoever 
can be civil in Religion. Milton, Eikonoklastes, xix. 
2. Specifically, relating to the commonwealth 
as secularly organized for purposes of peace: 
opposed to ecclesiastical, military, or naval; 
relating to the citizen in his relations to the 
commonwealth as thus organized, or to his 
fellow-citizens: as, civil rights; or, in particu- 
lar, relating to property and other rights main- 
tainable 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 reg- 
ular administration; exhibiting some refine- 
ment of customs and manners ; not savage or 
wild; civilized: as, civil life; civil society. 
It is but even the other day since England grewe to he 
civill. Spenser, State of Ireland. 
Men that are civil do lead their lives after one common 
law, appointing them what to do. 
Hooker, Eccles. Polity, i. 15. 
Is 't fit such ragamuffins as these are, 
Should bear the name of friends, and furnish out 
A civil house V Beau, and Fl., Scornful Lady, iv. 2. 
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. 
5. Courteous; obliging ; well bred ; affable; oft- 
en, merely or formally polite ; not discourteous. 
These of all other we found most civill to giue intertaine- 
ment. Capt. John Smith, True Travels, I. 118. 
Sir Luc. Begin now "Sir," 
Acres. That's too civil by half. 
Sheridan, The Rivals, iii. 4. 
A civil man now is one observant of slight external cour- 
tesies in the mutual intercourse between man and man ; 
a civil man once was one who fulfilled all the duties and 
obligations flowing from his position as a "civis." 
Abp. Trench, Gloss. Eng. Words, p. 36. 
civilian 
6f. Characteristic of a citizen, as opposed to a 
courtier, soldier, etc. ; not gay or showy ; sober; 
grave; somber. 
A civil habit 
Oft covers a good man ; and you may meet, 
In person of a merchant, with a soul 
As resolute and free, and all ways worthy 
As else in any file of mankind. 
Fletcher, Beggar's Bush, ii. 3. 
Come, civil night, 
Thou sober-suited matron, all in black. 
Sliak., 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, cor- 
poration. See the nouns. Civil crown. Samu as citric 
crown (which see, under civic). Civil damage act, 
Civil damage law, the name commonly given to a stat- 
ute adopted, in varying forms, in a number of the United 
States, making the seller of intoxicating liquor liable civil- 
ly in damages to those injured by the intoxicated person, 
including his family, if their means of support are im- 
paired by his intoxication. Civil day, death, engi- 
neering, etc. See the nouns. Civil law. (a) That part 
of theluws of a state or nation which concerns the civil 
power as distinguished from the military power and for- 
eign relations, and regulates within the territorial juris- 
diction the rights of persons and property, except when 
superseded by the military power in time of war. (6) 
More specifically, the municipal law of the Roman em- 
pire, 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 contra- 
distinction to those which were supposed to be common 
to all nations (jits r/cntium). 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 Justinian, 
consisting of the Digest, Code, and Novelise Constitutiones. 
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 Amer- 
ica, Louisiana, and Quebec. Civil liberty, natural lib- 
erty so far restrained by human laws (and so far only) as 
is necessary and expedient for the public good. Minor. 
Civil list, the sum annually allowed to the sovereign of 
the United Kingdom of Great P>ritain and Ireland for the 
support of his (or her) household and the dignity of the 
crown. This sum has been fixed by statute (1 Viet, c. 2) 
at 385,000, as follows : For her Majesty's privy purse, 
80,000 ; 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 
Congress of 1875 (18 Stat., 335), forbidding the exclusion o> 
anyperson from the enjoymentof inns, public conveyances, 
theaters, etc., on account of race or color. Civil Rights 
Bill, an act of the United States Congress 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 de- 
cisions of the United States Supreme Coxirt in Strauder v. 
West Virginia, 1879 (100 U. S., 303), and five other cases, 
1883 (109 U. S., 3), are frequently referred to, which dis- 
cuss the effect of the thirteenth and fourteenth amend- 
ments to the Constitution of the United States upon the 
legal status of freedmen. Civil servant, an official of a 
government not belonging to either its military or its naval 
forces: especially applied to such an official in British India. 
Every one holding a post under the Government [of Great 
Britain] that is not a legal, military, or naval post, is called 
a civil servant, from the Prime Minister down to a penny 
postman. 
A. Fonblanque, Jr., How we are Governed, p. 155. 
Civil service, the executive branch of the public ser- 
vice, as distinguished from the military, naval, legislative, 
and judicial. Civil-service Act, a United States stat- 
ute of 1871 (16 Stat. 514, sec. 9), authorizing the Presi- 
dent to prescribe rules for the admission of persons into 
the civil service. Its object was to make such admission 
dependent upon fitness only, without regard to party as- 
sociation. Similar laws in several States are known by the 
same name. Civil-service Commissioners, a body ap- 
pointed to superintend the examination of candidates for 
appointments in the civil service. Civil state, the whole 
body of the citizens who are not included in the military, 
naval, and ecclesiastical bodies. Civil war, war between 
different sections of one country, or between differing 
factions of one people. Civil year. See year. Cov- 
enanted civil service, that branch of the East Indian 
civil service whose members enter a special department, 
and are entitled to regular promotion and a pension 
after serving a specified number of years, and who can- 
not resign without permission. They were also called ci- 
mliam. tjncovenanted civil service, a branch of the 
East Indian civil service whose members (Europeans or 
natives) are subject to no entrance examination, are not 
entitled to promotion or a pension on retiring, and may 
resign their office at pleasure. = Syn. 6. Courteous, Ur- 
liane, etc'. See polite. 
civilation (siv-i-la'shon), n. [Appar. a humor- 
ous corruption of civilization.'] Intoxication. 
[Irish slang.] 
In a state of civilation. De Quincey. 
civilian (si-vil'yan), . and a. [< ME. civilian, 
< L. chilis, civil : see civil.] I. n. 1. One who 
is skilled in the Roman or civil law ; a profes- 
sor or doctor of civil law. 
Elizabeth caused an inquiry to be instituted before a 
commission of privy councillors and civilians. 
Ballam, Const. Hist., I. iU. 
