English

Noun

civitas ‎(plural civitates)

1. (pedantic) A community.
2. (pedantic) A state, (chiefly) a city-state.

References

• Merriam-Webster Online. "civitas". 2015.

Latin

Etymology

From cīvis ‎(“citizen”) +‎ -itās.

Pronunciation

(Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈki.wi.tas/, [ˈkɪ.wɪ.tas]

Noun

cīvitās f ‎(genitive cīvitātis); third declension

1. citizenship: the status of belonging to and enjoying the rights of a city or larger state, especially (classical) Roman citizenship
2. the rights of citizenship themselves, including freedom of the city
3. the citizenry: a community, (by extension) the body politic, the state, particularly:
   1. (classical) the Celtic tribes or subkingdoms under Roman rule in Gaul and Britain
4. the area of the citizens: a city with its associated hinterland or territory (thus distinguished from urbs), particularly:
   1. "The City", either (classical) Rome or (Medieval) Jerusalem
   2. (classical) the capital or center of Roman administration in each Celtic civitas (see above)
   3. (Medieval) a borough: a walled settlement, sometimes particularly former Roman towns
   4. (late Medieval) a city: a Biblical, major, or specially incorporated town, particularly cathedral cities
5. (Medieval, Christianity) the community of believers: either the Church or Heaven

Inflection

Third declension.

Derived terms

• cīvitātula
• curator civitatis, defensor civitatis, exactor civitatis

Related terms

Descendants

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, 1883–1887)
• Félix Gaffiot (1934), “civitas”, in Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Paris: Hachette.
• Meissner, Carl; Auden, Henry William (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
    
• 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