civitas
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See also: Civitas
English
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from Latin cīvitās. Doublet of city.
Pronunciation
Noun
civitas (plural civitates)
- (Roman history) the social body of the citizens united by law
- (Roman history) a city and its territory
- (pedantic) a community
- (pedantic) a state, (chiefly) a city-state
References
- Merriam-Webster Online. "civitas". 2015.
Anagrams
Latin
Alternative forms
Etymology
From earlier ceivitās, from Proto-Italic *keiwitāts. Equivalent to cīvis (“citizen”) + -tās.
Pronunciation
Noun
cīvitās f (genitive cīvitātis); third declension
- (Classical Latin) citizenship and its rights; often referring to Roman citizenship
- (Classical Latin) the state, body politic, citizens of a territory (collectively)
- (Classical Latin, metonymically) a city and all external territory (thus distinguished from urbs)
- (Classical Latin, metonymically) city-states, kingdoms, or tribes, especially under Roman rule.
- (Medieval Latin) a city: a major, biblical, or specially incorporated town, particularly cathedral cities
- His diebus Langobardi Italia invaserunt, Vincentiam Veronamque et reliquas Venetiarum civitates coepit, et per tres annos Ticino possedit.
- In those days that the Lombards invaded Italy, he began Vincentia & Verona and the rest of the Venetian cities, and possessed Ticino for three years.
- (Medieval Latin) a borough: a walled settlement, sometimes particularly former Roman towns
- (Ecclesiastical Latin) either the Church or Heaven
Declension
Third-declension noun.
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | cīvitās | cīvitātēs |
| Genitive | cīvitātis | cīvitātum cīvitātium |
| Dative | cīvitātī | cīvitātibus |
| Accusative | cīvitātem | cīvitātēs |
| Ablative | cīvitāte | cīvitātibus |
| Vocative | cīvitās | cīvitātēs |
The genitive plural in -um is the etymologically expected one as well as the more frequent.
Derived terms
Related terms
Descendants
- Balkan Romance:
- Dalmatian:
- Italo-Romance:
- Padanian:
- Gallo-Romance: (see there for further descendants)
- Ibero-Romance: (see there for further descendants)
- Insular Romance:
- ⇒ Sardinian: Sa Chitade
- Unsorted:
- Borrowings:
References
- “civitas”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- “civitas”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- civitas in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
- civitas in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
- Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book, London: Macmillan and Co.
- Plato's ideal republic: civitas optima, perfecta Platonis
- Plato's ideal republic: illa civitas Platonis commenticia
- Plato's ideal republic: illa civitas, quam Plato finxit
- universal history: omnis memoria, omnis memoria aetatum, temporum, civitatum or omnium rerum, gentium, temporum, saeculorum memoria
- the constitution: descriptio civitatis
- to give the state a constitution: civitati leges, iudicia, iura describere
- to be the chief man in the state: principem civitatis esse
- the head of the state: rector civitatis (De Or. 1. 48. 211)
- to make a man a citizen: civitate donare aliquem (Balb. 3. 7)
- to enroll as a citizen, burgess: in civitatem recipere, ascribere, asciscere aliquem
- to present a person with the freedom of the city: civitatem alicui dare, tribuere, impertire
- to naturalise oneself as a citizen of another country: civitatem mutare (Balb. 11. 27)
- the dregs of the people: faex populi, plebis, civitatis
- aristocracy (as a form of government): civitas, quae optimatium arbitrio regitur
- democracy: imperium populi or populare, civitas or res publica popularis
- to banish a person, send him into exile: ex urbe (civitate) expellere, pellere aliquem
- to banish a person, send him into exile: de, e civitate aliquem eicere
- to expel a person from the city, country: exterminare (ex) urbe, de civitate aliquem (Mil. 37. 101)
- to keep the citizens in servile subjection: civitatem servitute oppressam tenere (Dom. 51. 131)
- to extort money from the communities: pecuniam cogere a civitatibus
- to compel communities to provide troops: imperare milites civitatibus
- to compel communities to provide hostages: obsides civitatibus imperare
- Plato's ideal republic: civitas optima, perfecta Platonis
- “civitas”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
- “civitas”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin
Romanian
Etymology
Noun
civitas n (plural civitasuri)
Declension
Declension of civitas
| singular | plural | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| indefinite articulation | definite articulation | indefinite articulation | definite articulation | |
| nominative/accusative | (un) civitas | civitasul | (niște) civitasuri | civitasurile |
| genitive/dative | (unui) civitas | civitasului | (unor) civitasuri | civitasurilor |
| vocative | civitasule | civitasurilor | ||