Where does “civility” come from?
Civility comes from Latin civilitas, formed with the suffix -itas from civilis, ultimately derived from Proto-Indo-European ḱey-.
civility (English): Speech or behaviour that is fit for civil...
Definitions
- Speech or behaviour that is fit for civil...
Ancestry of “civility”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Latin | civilitas | politics, the art/practice of government;... |
| 2 | Latin | cīvīlis | — |
| 3 | Latin | -ilis | -ile |
| 4 | Proto-Italic | -elis | — |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | -elis | — |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | -lós | Forms agent nouns from verbal roots |
Words derived from “civility”