Dictionary

civil society en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

From the archaic sense of civil, “peaceful and well-ordered”. Later senses of civil society reflect 19th-century Hegelian influence, as well as the earlier argument that tyrannical governments exist in the state of nature in relation to their subjects.

Meanings

1. (countable, uncountable) All of the institutions, voluntary organizations and corporate bodies that are less than the state but greater than the family.
2. (countable, uncountable) Those things expected of a democratic society, such as free speech and human rights.
3. (countable, uncountable) Organized, internally peaceful human society; civilization.
   • Rousseau, however, thought that civil society as such […] is characterized by a fundamental self-contradiction and that it is precisely the state of nature which is free from self-contradiction; man in the state of nature is happy because he is radically independent, whereas man in civil society is unhappy because he is radically dependent. 1953, Leo Strauss, Natural Right and History, page 282:
   • The only Way whereby any one divests himself of his natural Liberty, and puts on the Bonds of civil Society, is by agreeing with other Men to join and unite into a Community, for their comfortable, safe, and peaceable living one amongst another, in a secure Enjoyment of their Properties, and a greater Security against any that are not of it. 1689, John Locke, Two Treatises of Government; republished as The Works of John Locke Esq., volume 2, 1727, page 185:
   • Man’s decision to leave the state of nature is a natural decision. […] Civil society is, in effect, nature rendered reasonable. 1989, Gary B. Herbert, Thomas Hobbes: The Unity of Scientific and Moral Wisdom, →ISBN, page 12:

Forms

Antonyms

state of nature

Translations (34)

mn иргэний нийгэм (institutions, voluntary organizations and corporate bodies) · hy քաղաքացիական հասարակություն (institutions, voluntary organizations and corporate bodies) · de Zivilgesellschaft (institutions, voluntary organizations and corporate bodies) · az vətəndaş cəmiyyəti (institutions, voluntary organizations and corporate bodies) · bg гражданско общество (institutions, voluntary organizations and corporate bodies) · ja 市民社会 (institutions, voluntary organizations and corporate bodies) · la status cīvīlis (organized and peaceful society — see also civilization) · id peradaban (organized and peaceful society — see also civilization) · nl maatschappelijk middenveld (institutions, voluntary organizations and corporate bodies) · mt soċjetà ċivili (institutions, voluntary organizations and corporate bodies) · kk азаматтық қоғам (institutions, voluntary organizations and corporate bodies) · id masyarakat sipil (institutions, voluntary organizations and corporate bodies) · ar مُجْتَمَع مَدَنِيّ (institutions, voluntary organizations and corporate bodies) · cmn 公民社會 /公民社会 (institutions, voluntary organizations and corporate bodies) · tl lipunang sibil (institutions, voluntary organizations and corporate bodies) · uk громадянське суспільство (institutions, voluntary organizations and corporate bodies) · id masyarakat madani (institutions, voluntary organizations and corporate bodies) · fr société civile (institutions, voluntary organizations and corporate bodies) · vi xã hội dân sự (institutions, voluntary organizations and corporate bodies) · id kelompok masyarakat (organized and peaceful society — see also civilization) · pl społeczeństwo obywatelskie (institutions, voluntary organizations and corporate bodies) · km អសេនិកសង្គម (institutions, voluntary organizations and corporate bodies) · hu polgári társadalom (institutions, voluntary organizations and corporate bodies) · de bürgerliche Gesellschaft (Hegelianism) (institutions, voluntary organizations and corporate bodies) · ko 시민사회 (institutions, voluntary organizations and corporate bodies) · hu civil társadalom (institutions, voluntary organizations and corporate bodies) · hy քաղհասարակություն (institutions, voluntary organizations and corporate bodies) · de Bürgergesellschaft (institutions, voluntary organizations and corporate bodies) · km សង្គមស៊ីវិល (institutions, voluntary organizations and corporate bodies) · cs občanská společnost (institutions, voluntary organizations and corporate bodies) · fi kansalaisyhteiskunta (institutions, voluntary organizations and corporate bodies) · ru гражда́нское о́бщество (institutions, voluntary organizations and corporate bodies) · it società civile (institutions, voluntary organizations and corporate bodies) · ro societate civilă (institutions, voluntary organizations and corporate bodies)