civillyadv.
/ˈsɪvl̩i/, /ˈsɪvᵻli/, U.S. /ˈsɪvᵻ(l)li/ In a civil manner.
I. Senses relating to civil adj. I.† 1. In a manner befitting or appropriate to a citizen. Obsolete.† 3. In a civilized manner. Obsolete.† 4. Decently, respectably; not gaudily. Cf. civil adj. 6c. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > social attitudes > public-spiritedness > [adverb]
civillyc1443
public-spiritedly1767
c1443 R. Pecock Reule of Crysten Religioun (1927) 301 (MED) Þei fynden reulis and gouernauncis profitable..And þerfore..we ouȝte bere vs anentis oure neiȝboris accordingly and towardly or cyuyly.
1535 W. Marshall tr. Marsilius of Padua Def. of Peace i. iv. f. 13 For men lyuynge cyuyllie, do not onely lyue..but also they lyue wel, that is to wyt, gyuynge theyr mynde to lyberall and honeste workes.
1554 Act 1 & 2 Philip & Mary c. 7 §1 The Children in the said Cities..were civilly brought up and instructed.
1577 W. Harrison Descr. Eng. (1877) ii. iii. i. 83 Rules of discipline, vnder which they liue most ciuilie in their houses.
1593 R. Hooker Of Lawes Eccl. Politie i. xv. 91 That..a multitude should..concurre in the doing of one thing (for this is ciuillie to liue).
1646 Earl of Monmouth tr. G. F. Biondi Hist. Civil Warres Eng. II. vii. 101 Shee was well borne, and civilly brought up; her ruine was her being unequally Married.
2. With good manners; politely, courteously. In later use: with only a minimum degree of courtesy; without rudeness. Cf. civil adj. 7a.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > behaviour > good behaviour > courtesy > [adverb]
welleOE
fairOE
methelyOE
menskly?c1225
hendilyc1275
hendlyc1275
courteouslyc1290
bonairc1330
bonairly1340
goodly1372
debonairlya1375
henda1375
kindlya1375
fairlyc1480
humanelya1500
handsomely1542
civilly1552
gallantly1611
civil1642
politely1748
nicely1864
1552 R. Huloet Abcedarium Anglico Latinum Ciuillye, urbanatim.
1573 T. Tusser Fiue Hundreth Points Good Husbandry (new ed.) f. 7 Answer stranger ciuely, but shew him not thy secresie.
1603 P. Holland tr. Plutarch Morals 489 Some there be (who more civilly avoiding the fabulosity of this tale) say: That it was not by praiers & imprecations that he drew after him the sea.
a1661 T. Fuller Worthies (1662) Sussex 104 They were so civilly Languaged.
1712 R. Steele Spectator No. 268. ⁋2 I very civilly requested him to remove his Hand.
1769 B. Franklin Let. 27 Apr. in Wks. (1887) IV. 242 This handicraft, shop-keeping state will, for its own sake, learn to behave more civilly to its customers.
1787 W. Beckford Jrnl. 19 July in Jrnl. Portugal & Spain (1954) (modernized text) 138 We should never have found our way..had not an aide-de-camp..very civilly directed us.
1835 W. Irving Tour on Prairies 25 The master of the house received us civilly, but could offer us no accommodation.
1882 Cent. Mag. June 252/1 Before we have dinner done, ‘Mr. Boyne’, a jolly effectual-looking man of fifty, waits civilly upon us.
1921 E. L. White Andivius Hedulio i. vi. 92 I was received civilly and was shown into the atrium.
1972 Ethics 82 235 The girl and Mr. X have a right to be treated civilly. Certain formal (institutionalized) courtesies and pleasantries are expected.
1993 T. Hawkins Pepper vii. 136 What if she is fucking the other Richard? I'll muller them both. Maybe I won't. I'll carry on getting right and dump her civilly.
ΘΚΠ
society > [adverb] > in a civilized manner
civilly1586
1586 T. Bowes tr. P. de la Primaudaye French Acad. I. 108 That they might liue ciuilly amongst..sauage nations.
1658 Sir T. Browne Hydriotaphia: Urne-buriall i. 9 The Chinois..[are] civilly content with their companies in effigie, which barbarous Nations exact unto reality.
1719 Charter Colony of Rhode Island 4 Our said People..may be so Religiously, Peaceably, and Civilly governed, as that..they may win and invite the Native Indians of the Country, to the Knowledge and Obedience of the only true God.
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the mind > attention and judgement > good taste > pleasing fitness > [adverb] > in seemly or decorous manner
comelyOE
menskful?c1225
seemlyc1320
menskfullya1375
tallya1375
comelilyc1400
comelywise1440
handsomely1525
decently1552
civilly1593
decent1716
comme il faut1756
decorously1808
wise-like1822
spiffily1977
1593 T. Nashe Christs Teares f. 79v Be shee but ciuilly plaine, and in her apparraile cittizinizd, shee is the good-wiues Niece, or neere Kinswoman.
a1626 F. Bacon New Atlantis (1658) 5 The Chambers were..furnished civilly.
II. Senses relating to civil adj. II.† 7. Theology. According to secular morality; in accordance with civil righteousness. See civil adj. 16. Obsolete.
5. In accordance with civil law. See civil law n.
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society > law > branch of the law > [adverb] > according to civil law
civilly1478
1478 in T. Thomson Acts Lords Auditors (1839) 84/2 The lordis..assignis..the x day of Maij..to fals and inpung the said instrument ciuily as to that part.
1507 in M. Livingstone Reg. Secreti Sigilli Regum Scotorum (1908) I. 209/1 Soumes..that thai may be accusit or followit of criminably or cively.
1583 Ld. Burghley Execution of Iustice sig. Diii Shall she forbeare..to put his souldiers inuadours of her realme to ye sword martially, or to execute her lawes vpon her owne rebellious subiectes ciuilly.
1651 W. G. tr. J. Cowell Inst. Lawes Eng. 210 Whether he will prosecute the party civilly or criminally.
1678 G. Mackenzie Laws & Customes Scotl. i. xvii. 178 Adultery may be pursued either Civilly to obtain a Divorce, or Criminally, and when it is pursued Criminally the Pursuit tends either to a capital punishment, or an extraordinar and arbitrary punishment.
1726 J. Ayliffe Parergon Juris Canonici Anglicani 44 The Husband may bring his Action either Civilly or Criminally. Criminally, when the Action is brought by way of Punishment: and Civilly, when the Husband sues in an Action of Injury for Damage.
1761 E. Umfreville Lex Coronatoria I. iii. 27 The Gaoler shall Answer for his Deputy civilly, but not criminally, unless he consent to his Acts.
1861 Glasgow Herald 18 Jan. 5/2 By the law of Scotland the marriage of a man with his deceased wife's sister is illegal and civilly null.
1871 W. Markby Elem. Law (1874) §190 Whether their consequences be civilly or criminally pursued.
1900 Jrnl. Soc. Compar. Legislation 2 65 The moment he was set free he could be re-arrested and tried civilly.
1959 Univ. Chicago Law Rev. 26 332 Laws holding parents strictly responsible—whether criminally or civilly—for delinquent acts of their children should be repealed.
1967 J. A. Crook Law & Life Rome v. 168 Of course, thieves are not usually solvent, not worth the trouble of suing civilly—a modern as well as an ancient problem.
2004 Duluth (Minnesota) News-Tribune (Nexis) 27 July Prosecutors tried to civilly commit her but dropped the efforts for lack of evidence that she posed a danger.
6.
a. With regard to civil matters, esp. as opposed to religious or military matters; in a civil context.
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society > faith > aspects of faith > spirituality > unspirituality > [adverb]
worldlyeOE
bodilyc1370
unghostlya1400
carnally1527
civilly1577
worldwarda1617
secularly1840
worldwards1845
materialistically1852
unspiritually1871
1577 T. Vautrollier tr. M. Luther Comm. Epist. to Galathians (new ed.) iii. f. 134v Seeing there is a double use of the law, the one politique and the other spirituall, he that will vnderstand thys sentence ciuilly, may doe it after thys sort.
1587 A. Fleming et al. Holinshed's Chron. (new ed.) III. Contin. 1358/1 Expressing..the subiects allegiance ciuilie.
1602 W. Segar Honor Mil. & Civill i. i. 1 Iustinianus desiring to vnite Lawes and Armes, authorised one Officer to command both Martially and Ciuilly, whom he called Prætor.
a1688 R. Cudworth Confut. Atheism in True Intellect. Syst. Universe (1743) II. 897 They, who make civil laws, and can reverse them at pleasure..can not sin politically or civilly, as violators or transgressors of those laws cancelled and reversed by them.
1793 Sir M. Eden in Ld. Auckland's Corr. (1862) III. 207 The Emperor's journey, civilly and militarily, has had an excellent effect.
1836 Asiatic Jrnl. & Monthly Reg. 20 ii. 110/2 The military employees have no power to interfere with the duties of any officer civilly employed.
1853 F. W. Robertson Serm. 3rd Ser. xiii. 163 He lays down the principle..in two ways ecclesiastically and civilly.
1927 Night Jrnl. (Lincoln, Nebraska) 24 Nov. 12/2 The former Mrs. Dorothy Cochrane of Brooklyn, N. Y., and ‘Prince Nicholas Karageorovitch’, to whom she was married civilly last week.
1986 A. Douglas & P. Greenfield Rec. Early Eng. Drama 249 Reapportioning of ecclesiastical control notwithstanding, all these areas were administered civilly by Gloucestershire.
1994 J. Høyrup In Measure, Number, & Weight viii. 258 Some critical observers of the military go further, claiming that no, or almost no, civilly productive research derives from contemporary military research.
b. From the point of view of law; with regard to legal rights or status; legally. Frequently in civilly dead, civilly disabled. See civil adj. 14a.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > [adverb] > in the eyes of the law
civilly1607
1607 E. Grimeston tr. Gen. Inuentorie Hist. France ii. 176 Wee haue sought her after the death of her poore husband and could not finde her, for in trueth she was ciuilly dead.
1660 Bp. J. Taylor Ductor Dubitantium I. Ep. Ded. sig. A3v As Slaves live, that is, such who are civilly dead, and persons condemn'd to metalls.
1705 W. Forbes Treat. Church-lands & Tithes i. ix. §i. 169 Us Monks were understood as civilly dead: And so neither capable to enjoy Feus by Succession, nor Purchase.
1751 Present Pract. Fines & Recoveries 25 Persons who in Law are accounted civilly dead, as Monks, Friars, and the like, may neither be Cognizors or Cognizees in Fines.
1806 W. D. Evans in Treat. Law of Obligations II. App. xviii. 418 Or what is paid is not due, either civilly or naturally, and in like manner may without distinction be recovered back.
1846 J. S. G. Richardson Rep. Court of Appeals S. Carolina 2 213 Would it not be a proper..jurisdiction for our common law Courts to say that the parties are civilly disabled to marry, and if they presume to marry in violation of law, the marriage shall be void ab initio?
a1859 J. Austin Lect. Jurispr. (1879) II. liii. 892 The predecessor in the case of heirship must have died: that is..must have died physically, or..civilly.
1955 Philos. & Phenomenol. Res. 16 206 It is a state which is virtually civilly dead and does not legally exist as a state.
2004 M. O'Brien Conjectures of Order II. xx. 1082 In the Ireland in which he..had been born..Catholics had been civilly disabled. And he came to know it in the New World, too, where they were legally citizens but barely tolerated.
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > virtue > [adverb] > but in unregenerate manner
civilly1592
civil1642
society > faith > aspects of faith > spirituality > grace > righteousness > [adverb] > moral only
civilly1592
civil1642
1592 tr. F. Du Jon Apocalypsis iii 9 That is fall down and worship either thee civily, or Christ religiously.
1608 Bp. J. Hall Pharisaisme & Christianity 47 If the ciuillie righteous shall not bee saued, where shall the notorious sinner appeare?
1647 J. Saltmarsh in S. Rutherford Christ Dying iii. 499 The not acting of sinne, or conceivings of lust is not pure mortification; for then children, and civilly morall men were mortified persons.
1824 H. Cole tr. M. Luther Select Wks. I. 369 He may compel those who are not yet Christians to be civilly moral before the world.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, November 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adv.c1443