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Definition of "civil law" [civil law]

  • The body of laws of a state or nation dealing with the rights of private citizens. (noun)
  • The law of ancient Rome as embodied in the Justinian code, especially that which applied to private citizens. (noun)
  • A system of law having its origin in Roman law, as opposed to common law or canon law. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "civil law" in a sentence
  • "Canonists, even, were only rewarded because of their previous knowledge of civil law: at Oxford three years had to be devoted to the study of civil law before a student could be admitted as bachelor of canon law."
  • "A sketch of the Schools quadrangle drawn about 1459 shows this library, libraria nova, above the Canon Law schools, on the west side. 7.7 Between the completion of this library and 1470 the south side of the quadrangle was built, the school of civil law occupying the ground floor, and the Great Library or Common Library the first floor."
  • "By 1275, when another Italian jurist named Francesco d'Accorso, a distinguished teacher at Bologna, came to Oxford to lecture, the study of civil law was pursued with the royal favour. 11.15"
Words like "civil law"