sə̇ˈviləd.ē, -ətē, -i noun
( -es )
Etymology: Middle English civylite, from Middle French civilité, from Latin civilitat-, civilitas, from civilis + -itat-, -itas -ity
1.
a. obsolete : deference or allegiance to the social order befitting a citizen
b. obsolete : civil government or polity
c. : solidarity of civil rights and obligations and civil justice in the civil order
our great traditions of civility , the liberties western man has won for himself after centuries of struggle — Walter Lippmann
2. : the state of being civilized : civilization 3
I have heard ladies say that the measure of a people's civility is the position it accords to women — Clive Bell
3. archaic : training in the humanities
4.
a. : civil conduct ; especially : bare observance of the forms of accepted social behavior or adequate perfunctory politeness
b. obsolete : decent behavior or treatment : propriety
c. : an act or expression conforming to conventional patterns of social behavior