civis

Civis is a Latin noun meaning "citizen." In classical Latin it designated a free inhabitant of a city or state who possessed certain rights and duties within that community. The term is central to the Roman concept of citizenship (civitas), which governed legal status, political participation, and protection under law. Civis is a third-declension noun; its forms include nominative singular civis, genitive civis, dative civi, accusative civem, and ablative cive. In the plural the forms are nominative civēs, genitive civium, dative civibus, accusative civēs, and ablative civibus.

Historically, citizenship in Rome conferred a range of rights and privileges, such as legal protection, property rights, and, for some, the ability to participate in political life. Over time, the status evolved with social and legal changes, and the Constitutio Antoniniana issued in 212 CE extended citizenship to all free inhabitants of the Roman Empire, significantly broadening the concept beyond traditional Roman-born citizens.

In Latin literature, civis is often contrasted with peregrinus (foreigner) and servus (slave), underscoring its role as a marker of legal and social status within the city or empire. The term also left a linguistic legacy: from civis derive modern words related to citizenship and public life, such as civil, civilian, and civic, which in various languages reflect the idea of belonging to a political community.