Word.ws English Dictionary

civillity

civillity is the archaic spelling of civility.

Meaning of civility

Noun

civility (countable and uncountable, plural civilities)

  1. Speech or behaviour that is fit for civil interactions; politeness, courtesy.
    • This is an exact Inventory of what we found about the Body of the Man-Mountain, who uſed us with great Civility, and due Reſpect to your Majeſty's Commiſſion.1726 October 28, [Jonathan Swift], “The Emperor of Lilliput, Attended by Several of the Nobility, Come to See the Author in His Confinement. […]”, in Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World....
  2. (in plural) An individual act or expression of polite behaviour; a courtesy.
    • Mr Lovelace received from every one those civilities which were due to his birth […]1748, [Samuel Richardson], chapter III, in Clarissa. Or, The History of a Young Lady: […], volume I, London: […] S[amuel] Richardson; [a]nd sold by A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC
  3. (archaic) The state or fact of being civilized; civilization.
    • Monarchies have risen from barbarism to civility, and fallen again to ruin.1612, John Davies, Discoverie of the True Causes why Ireland was never entirely subdued
  4. (obsolete) A civil office; a civil capacity.
    • For what an enormity is this in a chriſtian realme to ſerue in a ciuility, hauinge the profyt of a Prouoſtſhip and a Deanrye, and a Perſonage? But I wil tel you what is lyke to come of it. It wil bring the clergy ſhortly into a very ſlauery.1549 March 25 (Gregorian calendar), Hughe Latymer [i.e., Hugh Latimer], Augustine Bernher, compiler, “[27 Sermons Preached by the Ryght Reuerende Father in God and Constant Matir of Iesus Christe...

Forms of civillity

pluralcivillities

Questions about civillity

What is civillity the archaic spelling of?
Civillity is the archaic spelling of civility.

Words near civillity in the dictionary

  1. civilizing
  2. civill
  3. civiller
  4. civillest
  5. civillian
  6. civillity
  7. civilly
  8. civilly dead
  9. civilly disobedient
  10. civilness
  11. civilogue

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: civillity (page history and authors); civility (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “civillity.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/civillity. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.