Meanings
nouncivil law (countable and uncountable, plural civil laws)
plural civil laws
- countableuncountablelawA legal system primarily based on a legal code, which commonly derives from the Corpus Juris Civilis.
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.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounthe body of laws established by a state or nation for its own regulation
Opposite
Broader
nounthe legal code of ancient Rome; codified under Justinian; the basis for many modern systems of civil law
Similar
Broader
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Translations
Arabic قَانُون مَدَنِيّ
- قَانُون مَدَنِيّ (qānūn madaniyy)legal system contrasting with common law
Chinese Mandarin 民法, 歐陸法系 /欧陆法系
- 民法 (mínfǎ)body of law dealing with private relations
- 歐陸法系 /欧陆法系 (ōulùfǎxì)legal system contrasting with common law
- 大陸法 /大陆法 (dàlùfǎ)legal system contrasting with common law
Czech občanské právo
- občanské právobody of law dealing with private relations
Danish civilret
- civilretbody of law dealing with private relations
Dutch civiel recht, burgerlijk recht
- civiel rechtbody of law dealing with private relations
- burgerlijk rechtbody of law dealing with private relations
- continentaal rechtlegal system contrasting with common law
- Romaans-Germaans rechtlegal system contrasting with common law
Esperanto civila kodo
- civila kodobody of law dealing with private relations
Estonian tsiviilõigus
- tsiviilõigusbody of law dealing with private relations
Finnish siviilioikeus, säädösoikeus
- siviilioikeusbody of law dealing with private relations
- säädösoikeuslegal system contrasting with common law
French droit civil, droit romano-civiliste
- droit civilbody of law dealing with private relations
- droit romano-civilistelegal system contrasting with common law
- droit romano-germaniquelegal system contrasting with common law
German Zivilrecht, Bürgerliches Recht
- Zivilrechtbody of law dealing with private relations
- Bürgerliches Rechtbody of law dealing with private relations
- römisch-germanisches Rechtlegal system contrasting with common law
Greek αστικό δίκαιο
- αστικό δίκαιο (astikó díkaio)body of law dealing with private relations
Hebrew המשפט הקונטיננטלי, משפט אזרחי
- המשפט הקונטיננטליlegal system contrasting with common law
- משפט אזרחיlegal system contrasting with common law
Hungarian polgári jog, római jog
- polgári jogbody of law dealing with private relations
- római joglegal system contrasting with common law
Indonesian hukum perdata, hukum sipil
- hukum perdatabody of law dealing with private relations
- hukum sipilbody of law dealing with private relations
- sistem hukum Eropa kontinentallegal system contrasting with common law
Italian diritto civile, diritto continentale
- diritto civilebody of law dealing with private relations
- diritto continentalelegal system contrasting with common law
- diritto romano-germanicolegal system contrasting with common law
Japanese 民法, 大陸法
- 民法 (mimpō)body of law dealing with private relations
- 大陸法 (tairiku hō)legal system contrasting with common law
Korean 민법, 대륙법
- 민법 (minbeop)body of law dealing with private relations
- 대륙법 (daeryukbeop)legal system contrasting with common law
Lithuanian civiline teise, kontinentinė teisė
- civiline teisebody of law dealing with private relations
- kontinentinė teisėlegal system contrasting with common law
Malay undang-undang sivil
- undang-undang sivilbody of law dealing with private relations
Norwegian Bokmål sivilrett, privatrett
- sivilrettbody of law dealing with private relations
- privatrettbody of law dealing with private relations
Polish prawo cywilne, prawo cywilne
- prawo cywilnebody of law dealing with private relations
- prawo cywilnelegal system contrasting with common law
Portuguese direito civil, civil law
- direito civilbody of law dealing with private relations
- civil lawlegal system contrasting with common law
- direito romano-germânicolegal system contrasting with common law
Romanian drept civil
- drept civilbody of law dealing with private relations
Russian гражда́нское пра́во, рома́но-герма́нское пра́во
- гражда́нское пра́во (graždánskoje právo)body of law dealing with private relations
- рома́но-герма́нское пра́во (románo-germánskoje právo)legal system contrasting with common law
Spanish derecho civil, derecho continental
- derecho civilbody of law dealing with private relations
- derecho continentallegal system contrasting with common law
Swedish civilrätt, kontinentaleuropeisk rätt
- civilrättbody of law dealing with private relations
- kontinentaleuropeisk rättlegal system contrasting with common law
Thai กฎหมายแพ่ง, ซีวิลลอว์
- กฎหมายแพ่ง (gòd măai pâeng)body of law dealing with private relations
- ซีวิลลอว์ (sii-wîl-lɔɔ)legal system contrasting with common law
Vietnamese dân luật, luật dân sự
- dân luậtbody of law dealing with private relations
- luật dân sựbody of law dealing with private relations
- hệ thống dân luậtlegal system contrasting with common law
- hệ thống pháp luật lục địalegal system contrasting with common law
Welsh cyfraith sifil
- cyfraith sifilbody of law dealing with private relations
Cite this entry
APA
civil law. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/civil%20law
MLA
“civil law.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/civil%20law. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “civil law,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/civil%20law.
Source: civil law on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.