VocabularyBasePractice words

Meaning & use

civil law

noun·Academiclegal

Last updated

UK/ˌsɪvəl ˈlɔː/
US/ˌsɪvəl ˈlɔ/

Meanings

  1. noununcountablelegal

    The area of law dealing with private disputes between people or organizations, such as contracts and property, rather than crimes.

    Grammar: Uncountable and usually without an article: this falls under civil law.

    Patterns

    • under civil law

    A broken contract is a matter for civil law, not criminal law.

    She studied civil law at university.

    Under civil law, the injured party can sue for damages.

  2. noununcountablelegal

    A legal system, used in much of Europe and Latin America, based mainly on written codes rather than past court decisions.

    Grammar: Contrasted with common law: France follows civil law.

    Patterns

    • a civil law system

    France and Germany have civil law systems.

    In civil law countries, judges rely mainly on written codes.

Common combinations

civil law system
Spain has a civil law system.
civil law case
The civil law case lasted two years.
under civil law
The dispute is handled under civil law.
civil law and common law
Students compare civil law and common law.

Synonyms and how they differ

private law
Private law stresses disputes between individuals, similar to the first sense of civil law.

Opposites

criminal lawcommon law

Word family

civil adjective
relating to ordinary citizens and their private disputes
civilian noun
a person who is not in the military

Commonly confused: civil law or civil rights?

civil law vs civil rights

Civil rights are the freedoms guaranteed to citizens, while civil law governs disputes and legal systems.

Practice

A neighbor sues you over a broken fence agreement. This is a matter of ___.

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “civil law”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

Your sentence stays on this page and is not sent anywhere.

Explore more words