Etymograph

English

civility

Civility comes from Latin civilitas ‘courteousness, politeness’, from cīvis ‘citizen’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱey- ‘to be lying down’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱey-1‘to be lying down’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*keiwis1‘society’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEceivis1
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcīvis1‘citizen’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcīvīlis1‘civic, civil, courteous’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcivilitas2‘courteousness, politeness’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1549civility2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin civilitas
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English civility
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1549, Hughe Latymer [i.e.: “For what an enormity is this in a chriſtian…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱey-Wiktionary, Latin civilitas‘to be lying down’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*keiwisWiktionary, Latin civilitas‘society’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEceivisWiktionary, Latin civilitas
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcīvisWiktionary, Latin civilitas‘citizen’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcīvīlisWiktionary, Latin civilitas‘civic, civil, courteous’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcivilitasWiktionary, English civility‘courteousness, politeness’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1549civilityWiktionary, English civility. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1549, Hughe Latymer [i.e.: “For what an enormity is this in a chriſtian…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ḱey- ‘to be lying down’

home, city, hide, cemetery, coma, haunt, hame, ceilidh, 32 more

through Latin ceivis

citadel, civics, civitas, 19 more

through Latin cīvis ‘citizen’

civic, 5 more

Today it means

noun Speech or behaviour that is fit for civil interactions; politeness, courtesy.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “civility”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin civilitas. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ḱey- / civility

Shirt and support for this word