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"civil" in seven languages

Meaningcivil

Spanish

civil

/θiˈbil/

learned

French

civil

/sivil/

learned

Italian

civile

/tʃiˈvile/

learned

Portuguese

civil

/siˈviw/

learned

Romanian

civil

/tʃiˈvil/

learned

Catalan

civil

/siˈbil/

learned

English

civil

/ˈsɪvəl/

from Latin/French · Old French civil (Latin CĪVĪLIS)

English → ItaliancivilcivileCognateSame source — inherited, learned or borrowed. You can recognize it.What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

CĪVĪLEM‘of citizens (from CĪVIS 'citizen')’

All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.

The story

From CĪVIS 'citizen', the root of CĪVITĀTEM → ciudad, cité, città. Even in a learned word each language reads c before i its own way: θ, s, tʃ.

English relatives: civic, citizen, city, civilization

Sound laws at work

C before E and I

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In a sentence

  • esLa guerra civil duró tres años.
  • frLa guerre civile a duré trois ans.
  • itLa guerra civile è durata tre anni.
  • ptA guerra civil durou três anos.
  • roRăzboiul civil a durat trei ani.
  • caLa guerra civil va durar tres anys.
  • enThe civil war lasted three years.

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