civility

la cortesía

USAGE NOTE

This word is often used in the plural in the sense shown in 2).

civility(

sih

vih

lih

)

A noun is a word referring to a person, animal, place, thing, feeling or idea (e.g. man, dog, house).

noun

1. (politeness)

a. la cortesía

(f) means that a noun is feminine. Spanish nouns have a gender, which is either feminine (like la mujer or la luna) or masculine (like el hombre or el sol).

(F)

You should at least have the civility to give your boss two-weeks notice before quitting.Al menos hay que tener la cortesía para darle un aviso de dos semanas a tu jefa antes de renunciar.

b. la urbanidad

(f) means that a noun is feminine. Spanish nouns have a gender, which is either feminine (like la mujer or la luna) or masculine (like el hombre or el sol).

(F)

The soldiers were surprised to see the civility with which their captors treated them.Los soldados se asombraron al ver la urbanidad con la que sus captores los trataron.

2. (pleasantry)

a. la cortesía

(f) means that a noun is feminine. Spanish nouns have a gender, which is either feminine (like la mujer or la luna) or masculine (like el hombre or el sol).

(F)

After a minute or so of the usual civilities, we ran out of things to say.Después de unos minutos de las cortesías de costumbre, se nos acabaron las cosas que decir.

b. el cumplido

(m) means that a noun is masculine. Spanish nouns have a gender, which is either feminine (like la mujer or la luna) or masculine (like el hombre or el sol).

(M)

My mother and my mother-in-law exchanged civilities when they met.Mi madre y mi suegra intercambiaron cumplidos cuando se conocieron.

civility

A noun is a word referring to a person, animal, place, thing, feeling or idea (e.g. man, dog, house).

Noun

1. (general)

a. la cortesía

(f) means that a noun is feminine. Spanish nouns have a gender, which is either feminine (like la mujer or la luna) or masculine (like el hombre or el sol).

(F)

civility [sɪˈvɪlɪtɪ]

noun

1 (politeness) cortesía (f); amabilidad (f)

2 (usu pl) (polite remark) cortesía (f); cumplido (m)

Collins Complete Spanish Electronic Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers 2011

Examples