Civis

Civis is an Ancient Latin word that can be roughly translated as "citizen". It is the root of "civitas", from which came the word "city" in English.

Data

The word did not have the legal implications that it has today. It simply meant someone that lived within a city, as opposed to "outsiders".^[1] However, it also implied a Roman Citizen, as contrasted to a military person, and was perhaps most famously uttered by the Roman Senator Cicero, who said, "Civis Romanus sum."

Currently the word is sometimes used in Europe in its Latin context, but it is also sometimes used as a surname. See Civis (Surname)

Etymology

From Proto-Italic *keiwis, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱey- (“to lie down, settle; home, family; love; beloved”). Cognate with Sanskrit क्षेति (kṣeti), Ancient Greek κεῖμαι (keîmai, “to lie”), κοίτη (koítē, “bed”), κώμη (kṓmē, “village”), Armenian սեր (ser, “love”), Old Church Slavonic сѣмь (sěmĭ) (Russian семья (semʹja)) and Old English hām (English home).

Pronunciation

(Classical) IPA(key): /ˈkiː.wis/

Noun

cīvis m, f (genitive cīvis); third declension

References

1. Pagden, Anthony (1986). "The image of the barbarian". The fall of natural man: the American Indian and the origins of comparative ethnology. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-33704-5.