Phrase guide

civil law

noun · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

noun

Meaning 1

The body of law dealing with the private relations between members of a community;

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: law

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A legal system primarily based on a legal code, which commonly derives from the Corpus Juris Civilis.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: law

Examples

  • The Supreme Court of Canada is a bijural court that deals with both Quebec civil law and the common law used in the rest of the country.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

the legal code of ancient Rome; codified under Justinian; the basis for many modern systems of civil law

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: Roman law, Justinian code, jus civile

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: legal code

4

noun

Meaning 4

the body of laws established by a state or nation for its own regulation

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: international law

Broader terms: law, jurisprudence

Narrower terms: case law, precedent, common law, legislation, statute law

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

74 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Breton: gwir keodedel — body of law dealing with private relations
  • Chinese Mandarin: 民法 (mínfǎ) — body of law dealing with private relations
  • Czech: občanské právo — body of law dealing with private relations
  • Danish: civilret — body of law dealing with private relations
  • Dutch: civiel recht — body of law dealing with private relations
  • Dutch: burgerlijk recht — body of law dealing with private relations
  • Esperanto: civila kodo — body of law dealing with private relations
  • Estonian: tsiviilõigus — body of law dealing with private relations
  • Finnish: siviilioikeus — body of law dealing with private relations
  • French: droit civil — body of law dealing with private relations
  • Georgian: სამოქალაქო სამართალი (samokalako samartali) — body of law dealing with private relations
  • German: Zivilrecht — body of law dealing with private relations
  • German: Bürgerliches Recht — body of law dealing with private relations
  • Greek: αστικό δίκαιο (astikó díkaio) — body of law dealing with private relations
  • Hungarian: polgári jog — body of law dealing with private relations
  • Indonesian: hukum perdata — body of law dealing with private relations
  • Indonesian: hukum sipil — body of law dealing with private relations
  • Italian: diritto civile — body of law dealing with private relations
  • Japanese: 民法 (mimpō) — body of law dealing with private relations
  • Kazakh: азаматтық құқық (azamattyq qūqyq) — body of law dealing with private relations
  • Korean: 민법 (minbeop) — body of law dealing with private relations
  • Lithuanian: civiline teise — body of law dealing with private relations
  • Malay: undang-undang sivil — body of law dealing with private relations
  • Mongolian: иргэний хууль (irgenii xuulʹ) — body of law dealing with private relations
  • Mongolian: ардын хууль (ardyn xuulʹ) — body of law dealing with private relations
  • Mongolian: ᠢᠷᠭᠡᠨ ᠦ ᠬᠠᠤᠯᠢ (irgen-ü qauli) — body of law dealing with private relations
  • Mongolian: ᠠᠷᠠᠳ ᠤ᠋ᠨ ᠬᠠᠤᠯᠢ (arad un qauli) — body of law dealing with private relations
  • Norwegian Bokmål: sivilrett — body of law dealing with private relations
  • Norwegian Bokmål: privatrett — body of law dealing with private relations
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: sivilrett — body of law dealing with private relations
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: privatrett — body of law dealing with private relations
  • Polish: prawo cywilne — body of law dealing with private relations
  • Portuguese: direito civil — body of law dealing with private relations
  • Romanian: drept civil — body of law dealing with private relations
  • Russian: гражда́нское пра́во (graždánskoje právo) — body of law dealing with private relations
  • Slovene: civilno pravo — body of law dealing with private relations
  • Spanish: derecho civil — body of law dealing with private relations
  • Swedish: civilrätt — body of law dealing with private relations
  • Thai: กฎหมายแพ่ง (gòd măai pâeng) — body of law dealing with private relations
  • Vietnamese: dân luật — body of law dealing with private relations
  • Vietnamese: luật dân sự — body of law dealing with private relations
  • Welsh: cyfraith sifil — body of law dealing with private relations
  • Arabic: قَانُون مَدَنِيّ (qānūn madaniyy) — legal system contrasting with common law
  • Chinese Mandarin: 歐陸法系 /欧陆法系 (ōulùfǎxì) — legal system contrasting with common law
  • Chinese Mandarin: 大陸法 /大陆法 (dàlùfǎ) — legal system contrasting with common law
  • Dutch: continentaal recht — legal system contrasting with common law
  • Dutch: Romaans-Germaans recht — legal system contrasting with common law
  • Finnish: säädösoikeus — legal system contrasting with common law
  • French: droit romano-civiliste — legal system contrasting with common law
  • French: droit romano-germanique — legal system contrasting with common law
  • Georgian: რომაულ-გერმანული სამართალი (romaul-germanuli samartali) — legal system contrasting with common law
  • Georgian: კონტინენტური ევროპის სამართალი (ḳonṭinenṭuri evroṗis samartali) — legal system contrasting with common law
  • German: römisch-germanisches Recht — legal system contrasting with common law
  • Hebrew: המשפט הקונטיננטלי — legal system contrasting with common law
  • Hebrew: משפט אזרחי — legal system contrasting with common law
  • Hungarian: római jog — legal system contrasting with common law
  • Indonesian: sistem hukum Eropa kontinental — legal system contrasting with common law
  • Italian: diritto continentale — legal system contrasting with common law
  • Italian: diritto romano-germanico — legal system contrasting with common law
  • Japanese: 大陸法 (tairiku hō) — legal system contrasting with common law
  • Khmer: ច្បាប់រដ្ឋប្បវេណី (jbab roth pak ve ni) — legal system contrasting with common law
  • Korean: 대륙법 (daeryukbeop) — legal system contrasting with common law
  • Lithuanian: kontinentinė teisė — legal system contrasting with common law
  • Polish: prawo cywilne — legal system contrasting with common law
  • Portuguese: civil law — legal system contrasting with common law
  • Portuguese: direito romano-germânico — legal system contrasting with common law
  • Russian: рома́но-герма́нское пра́во (románo-germánskoje právo) — legal system contrasting with common law
  • Scots: ceevil law — legal system contrasting with common law
  • Serbo-Croatian: građansko právo — legal system contrasting with common law
  • Spanish: derecho continental — legal system contrasting with common law
  • Swedish: kontinentaleuropeisk rätt — legal system contrasting with common law
  • Thai: ซีวิลลอว์ (sii-wîl-lɔɔ) — legal system contrasting with common law
  • Vietnamese: hệ thống dân luật — legal system contrasting with common law
  • Vietnamese: hệ thống pháp luật lục địa — legal system contrasting with common law