civicadj.
/ˈsɪvɪk/, U.S. /ˈsɪvɪk/ 1. Roman History. Designating a crown or garland of oak leaves and acorns given in ancient Rome as a mark of distinction to a person who saved the life of a fellow citizen in war; of or relating to this. Also in extended use.Chiefly in civic crown, civic garland, etc.
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society > armed hostility > military organization > insignia > [noun] > decorations or orders > crowns and wreaths
naval crown?a1439
civil crowna1522
civic garland1542
obsidional crown1546
oval1614
civic crown1649
olive crown1679
crown-mure1682
rostral crown1686
stephane1847
1542 N. Udall tr. Erasmus Apophthegmes f. 254 A garlande ciuike..whiche was woont to bee made of oken leues.
1591 J. Harington tr. L. Ariosto Orlando Furioso xvi. xxxii. 123 In auncient times a laurell cyuicke crowne To him that sau'd one citizen they gaue.
1600 P. Holland tr. Livy Rom. Hist. vi. 231 Eight civick coronets for saving the lives of citizens in danger.
1615 E. Grimeston tr. P. d'Avity Estates 409 [The Romans] were accustomed to giue crowns vnto souldiers in recompence of their valour..the Ciuique was of oake, which they gaue him that had deliuered a citizen from danger.
1630 P. Massinger Picture sig. E4 The Ciuicke garland, The murall wreath.
1649 A. Marvell Poems in Wks. I. Pref. 53 Our civil warrs have lost the civick crowne.
1720 J. Ozell et al. tr. R. A. de Vertot Hist. Revol. Rom. Republic I. iv. 241 He had obtained fourteen Civic Crowns..three Mural Crowns.
1750 W. Whitehead Roman Father iv. ii. 57 Scatter here the Oaken Bough; Ev'n for one averted Fate We that Civic Meed bestow—He sav'd all, who sav'd the State.
1778 W. Hutchinson View Northumberland I. 141 A centurial stone..with a civic garland rudely sculptured, and a figure of the Roman Eagle.
1828 W. Sotheby Italy & Other Poems 220 Rome round thy front her civic garland binds.
1842 Ld. Tennyson Vision of Sin in Poems (new ed.) II. 220 Freedom, gaily doth she tread; In her right a civic wreath, In her left a human head.
1842 J. Gwilt Encycl. Archit. 951 Civic crown, a garland of oak leaves and acorns, often used as an architectural ornament.
1931 J. Gavorse Suetonius' Lives Twelve Caesars i. 4 Thermus honored him with a civic garland.
1965 Proc. Amer. Philos. Soc. 109 376/1 Set on a shield, which has a high border in the form of a civic crown, this wreathed, himation-clad deep bust shows Trajan in his extreme old age.
2007 R. Cowan Rom. Battle Tactics 6 (caption) Funerary memorial raised by his brother to Marcus Caelius... Note his numerous military decorations, especially the civic crown of oak leaves.
2. Of, belonging to, or relating to a citizen or citizens; of or relating to citizenship or to the rights, duties, etc., of the citizen; befitting a citizen.
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society > [adjective]
civilc1443
social1579
sociable1641
civic1655
societal1843
societary1844
worldward1848
macrosocial1969
society > society and the community > [adjective]
generalc1300
civila1398
public1539
civic1655
communital1840
communal1843
communitive1843
communitary1850
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabitant > inhabitant according to environment > town- or city-dweller > [adjective]
civil1559
citizena1616
civic1655
burgherly1762
citizenly1792
citizenish1821
urbanite1899
1655 E. Gayton Charity Triumphant 4 I cannot here set forth the reason of the late extinguishing these Civick Lights, and suppressing the Genius of our Metropolis, which for these Planetary Pageants and Pretorian Pomps was as famous and renouned in forraign Nations, as for their faith, wealth, and valour.
1747 Hist. Rise, Progress, & Tendency of Patriotism 14 All Men who appear in Publick Affairs affect to have this thought their Sense of that Civic Virtue.
1749 Ninth Let. Farmer to Electors Dublin 13 Give no such Advantage, my worthy and true Brothers, to the Adversaries of Liberty, to the Miners and Supplanters of your Civic Estate.
1790 E. Burke Refl. Revol. in France 219 Of late they distinguish it..by the name of a Civic Education. View more context for this quotation
1797 tr. Decree Suspected Persons Art. ii. in ‘English Lady’ Resid. in France I. 400 Those who have not demonstrated their means of living or the performance of their civic duties.
1805 Ann. Rev. 1 298 Volney printed a civic catechism.
1827 R. Southey Hist. Peninsular War II. 596 Efforts..for organizing a civic and national resistance.
1841 W. Spalding Italy & Ital. Islands I. 56 Every individual possessing the civic franchise.
1880 J. Muirhead tr. Gaius Institutes i. 49 A person who, on account of crime..has been interdicted fire and water, forfeits his civic privileges.
1937 J. P. Marquand Late George Apley xvi. 181 It was not his way to shirk a civic duty and he attended the meetings of this committee assiduously.
1963 New Statesman 18 Oct. 537/1 The police..accuse the public of a lack of civic responsibility.
1997 Jrnl. Econ. Hist. 57 582 Successful civic resistance, in Belgium during World War I..relied on external support, and withered without it.
2005 Times Lit. Suppl. 1 Apr. 16/1 His writing is a model of discretion, astute observation about himself and others, and appreciation of ordinary civic decency.
3.
a. Of, belonging to, or relating to a city, town, borough, or other community of citizens; esp. of or relating to the administration and affairs of such a community; municipal.
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society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > district in relation to human occupation > town as opposed to country > city > [adjective]
cityc1330
civila1593
civical1602
urban1619
urbicarian1654
civic1656
urbian1710
urbic1855
1656 T. Blount Glossographia Civick, pertaining to the city.
1675 J. Smith Christian Relig. Appeal i. v. §4 33 [Seneca] reprehends the Urban Religion... And so vehemently that the sharpest taunts, which Tertullian gave the civick worship, were not comparable to those bitter declamations of Seneca against it.
1766 Let. to Citizens Dublin 4 I stood, and still do stand, wholly unconnected with..any Set of Men, who have been on this, or that Side of a Question, in your civic Affairs.
1789 Let. to Voters of Chichester 6 Except indeed the Stone Figure in the Fish-Market be deem'd a civic Embellishment to Chichester, which would be thought a Disgrace to Billinsgate.
1828 W. Scott Fair Maid of Perth vii, in Chron. Canongate 2nd Ser. I. 164 Bailie Craigdallie..who had advised the prorogation of their civic council to the present place and hour.
1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 354 The first civic magistrate.
1861 C. H. Pearson Early & Middle Ages Eng. I. 84 The præfectus, or burh-gerefa, was rather a royal than a civic officer.
1907 Daily Chron. 8 Nov. 4/6 The same arrayment of civic dignitaries in scarlet and fur.
1944 Jrnl. Rom. Stud. 34 13 The Italian allies..still treasured their civic identity and would resist any unjustified pressure on their local affairs.
1974 B. Friel Freedom of City i. 18 These three people came together, seized possession of a civic building, and openly defied the security forces.
1997 Lancashire Evening Tel. (Electronic ed.) 24 Jan. The nuclear bunker under Clitheroe's civic hall is to be abandoned.
b. Of, relating to, or characteristic of the city or town considered as a locality; urban. Now rare.
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society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > district in relation to human occupation > town as opposed to country > city > [adjective] > as a kind of locality
civic1760
1760 S. Foote Minor i. 12 Had you stuck to your old civic vices, hypocrisy, couzenage, and avarice, I don't know whether I might not have committed George to your care; but, you cockneys now beat us suburbians at our own weapons.
1787 H. Lewis Excursion to Margate xviii. 77 This venerable pile of antiquity has been lately disgraced by hewing down the trees..for the purpose of amusing refined Londoners with the game of bowls.—Oh! how my resentment rose to see civic poppinjays in paltry sports profane the spot.
1821 Ld. Byron Don Juan: Canto V xxxvii. 153 That he..Should now be butcher'd in a civic alley.
1845 R. W. Hamilton Inst. Pop. Educ. iii. 51 Civic residence is our peculiarity.
1877 M. Oliphant Makers of Florence (ed. 2) vi. 165 This mood of mind is essentially civic, belonging to that straitened atmosphere of the town.
1975 D. Lodge Changing Places i. 9 Rummidge..had lately suffered the mortifying fate of most English universities of its type (civic redbrick).
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1789 in J. Sparks Corr. Amer. Revol. (1853) IV. 262 Your military rank holds its place in my mind notwithstanding your civic glory.
Compounds
civic amenity n. (frequently in plural) an amenity, facility, or service for the use and benefit of the citizens of a town or city, and typically owned or controlled by a local governing authority; cf. amenity n. 2c.Such facilities include street lighting, transport, parks, swimming pools, libraries, schools, art galleries, etc.See also civic amenity centre n., civic amenity site n.
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1906 Courier & Argus (Dundee) 29 Mar. 4/4 The staff of this [Fine Arts] department at the College might..act in conjunction with public bodies in..all matters pertaining to public works, such as the erection or demolition of buildings, places of recreation..and civic amenities in general.
1987 Sunday Times (Nexis) 1 Mar. Such a theatre needs every penny it can get: it is a civic amenity, like buses and job centres.
2002 G. Roots Designing World's Best Public Art 158 The..program provides opportunities for artists..to work with architects, engineers,..and city planners to design and build neighborhood parks, community centers, bridges, plazas, streets, recycling centers, and other important civic amenities.
civic amenity centre n. a facility owned or controlled by a local governing authority where the public can take household waste to be disposed of or recycled; = civic amenity site n.
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1975 Financial Times 28 Jan. 32/4 Discussions are going on..about a possible bottle recovery experiment... The experiment with the GLC would be aimed at getting people to deliver used bottles to a Civic Amenity Centre.
2018 Yorks. Post (Nexis) 18 Jan. There are plenty who can't be bothered to drive to the nearest civic amenity centre—known round here as ‘the tip’—and just drop their old clothes and household goods in the hedgerow.
civic amenity site n. a facility owned or controlled by a local governing authority where the public can take household waste to be disposed of or recycled; cf. civic amenity centre n.
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1976 Guardian 18 Dec. 6/4 Motorists..do not know how best to dispose of the oil, and local authorities..may be unaware of the marketable potential... Collection points should be set up at civic amenity sites.
2008 Ireland: towards Integrated Public Service (OECD) 323 The network of bring banks expanded from 426 in 1995 to 1 900 in 2006; the number of civic amenity sites increased from 28 to 81 over the period 1995–2006.
civic centre n. the centre of a city, municipality, etc., esp. as a focal point for local government and civic amenities; (in later use) spec. a purpose-built complex in which the principal public buildings of a municipality are grouped together; a single large public building serving a similar function.
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society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > public building > [noun]
hall1297
school?a1425
common house1537
basilica1541
public house1560
public building1561
state house1593
prytaneum1673
house of call1699
basilic1728
zayat1823
civic centre1867
jong1904
1867 Derby Mercury 24 July Suppl. Not merely were there dense crowds to cheer him [sc. the sultan] as he progressed from Buckingham Palace to the Guildhall, but at the civic centre a brilliant company was gathered to do him honour.
1909 H. I. Triggs Town Planning i. 12 Every effort should be made..to make the open spaces more extensive the farther they are removed from the civic centre.
1934 A. Huxley Beyond Mexique Bay 270 Give to London all the town planning, all the civic centres, all the garden suburbs that the ingenuity of man can devise.
1996 PC World Aug. 62/2 I met Beyers de Klerk in his office in the new Boksburg Civic Center, a concrete tower that looms above the old, low-rise downtown.
civic holiday n. a public holiday; (also) a holiday celebrated by a particular town, city, or region, spec. (chiefly as Civic Holiday) a public holiday observed in most of Canada on the first Monday in August.
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1827 Norfolk Chron. & Norwich Gaz. 23 June Guild Day, June 19... The weather being fine this annual civic holiday appeared to be much enjoyed by the multitude.
1924 Monthly Labor Rev. Jan. 196 The board also publishes bulletins in which are given material and suggestions for programs suitable for celebrating the principal civic holidays.
2019 Simcoe (Ont.) Reformer (Nexis) 30 Oct. (Final ed.) a1 The Simcoe planning committee have big goals for the Civic Holiday weekend celebration.
civic humanism n. the following of humanist ideals and values in political life, esp. the use of classical models of government, political rhetoric, etc.
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1938 Speculum 13 14 Guarino in 1408 sent to..Francesco Barbaro, who afterwards became the pioneer champion of civic humanism in the republic of San Marco, an admonition never to regard possessions and wealth as valuable.
2007 Chicago Sun Times (Nexis) 15 July b3 Civic humanism and religious faith must always remain in tension in American life. Faith can easily get co-opted by civic humanism, resulting in the loss of religion's prophetic voice in society.
civic journalism n. journalism conducted with the aim of promoting greater involvement by the general public in politics and community issues.
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1916 Amer. Jrnl. Sociol. 21 502 The universities should train men and women in the technique and ideals of civic journalism. Probably most voters need only to know the sensible thing to do and only from lack of information vote incompetents into office.
2004 Philadelphia Inquirer 26 Sept. c7/2 The blogosphere is a dynamic expansion of things newspapers have long done to aid democratic dialogue, from letters to the editor to experiments in civic journalism.
civic-minded adj. concerned with or active in civic affairs; concerned with the welfare of the community as a whole, public-spirited.
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society > society and the community > social attitudes > public-spiritedness > [adjective]
public1607
national1625
public-spirited1646
civic-minded1907
concerned1961
1907 E. A. Ross Sin & Society vi. 160 It is easy to foresee what a lively public appreciation and support of truth-telling newspapers, of plain-spoken preachers, of fearless scholars, of civic-minded lawyers..would do to populate these walks with good men.
1947 N. Cardus Autobiogr. 207 He..was not civic-minded, and could never be trusted at a garden-party.
2000 U.S. News & World Rep. 24 Apr. 26/1 Civic-minded Wisconsinites boast one of the nation's highest rates of organ donation.
civic-mindedness n. the state or quality of being civic-minded.
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1922 T. H. Reed Loyal Citizenship Pref. p.v To inculcate the habit of civic-mindedness not merely by example and precept but by practice as well.
1942 M. McCarthy Company she Keeps (1943) vi. 203 His methodical habits, his civic-mindedness, his devout sense of what was proper.
2004 Independent 14 Jan. (Property section) 5/5 It gives me pleasure to report..on a show of civic-mindedness that would never happen in Hampstead.
civic oath n. [originally after French serment civique (1790)] (in some states or political systems) an oath of allegiance taken by those in public office, by the citizenry in general, or by those wishing to attain citizenship.
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1790 Times 10 Feb. 3/3 It was afterwards proposed that every member [of the Assemblée nationale]..should take the civic oath.
1791 E. Burke Let. to Member Nat. Assembly 15 [Cromwell] chose an Hales for his chief justice, though he absolutely refused to take his civic oaths, or to make any acknowledgment whatsoever of the legality of his government.
1890 Atlantic Monthly June 734/2 It had long been the custom..for the senators there to take their civic oath of fidelity to the Emperor.
1955 Church Hist. 24 105 One of their leading members..published..a four-page pamphlet listing the Biblical reasons for refusing to swear the civic oath.
1992 Internat. Migration Rev. 26 284 Strict naturalization requirements for those who are not members of the existing community of citizens: at least sixteen years residence, renunciation of previous citizenship..a civic oath and knowledge of the Latvian constitution.
civic republicanism n. an approach to republican government which emphasizes active engagement by citizens.
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1850 N.Y. Herald 1 Oct. 6/4 In Italy, the tendency was toward civic republicanism; in France, toward absolute monarchy; in England, toward constitutional monarchy.
1907 T. Whittaker Liberal State iv. 101 Civic republicanism offered nothing congenial to the ennobled plutocrats of the nineteenth century.
2003 M. Baker & J. Kusel Community Forestry in U.S. vi. 102 The images associated with civic republicanism have an inherent appeal: citizens gathered together in a public meeting place to engage in face-to-face deliberations over issues of common concern.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, November 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1542