Where does “civil” come from?
civil (Middle English) comes from Old French civil, from Latin cīvīlis, from Latin -ilis, from Proto-Italic -elis, from Proto-Indo-European -elis, from Proto-Indo-European -lós — Forms agent nouns from verbal roots.
Ancestry of “civil”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Old French | civil | — |
| 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 “civil”