civil authority
3
4.5
- noun
- /ˈsɪvəl əˈθɔrɪti/
- Formal
:
autoridad civil
- Students should note that the broadside came from the War Department, not civil authorities.
- local civil authority
- military and civil authority
- civil authority control
Examples
-
The mayor is the recognized civil authority for managing local emergencies.
-
The law is the instrument that subordinates the civil authority to the people and the military to the civil authority.
Academic text (2001) -
The Brazilian state has four police forces with civil authority.
Academic text (1999) -
The judge declared that it was "the duty of every Christian to submit to civil authority."
Fiction book (1994) -
Little in his system of natural liberty could operate in the absence of civil authority.
Academic text (1992) -
Every action and decision of the civil authority, the military, and the defense establishment is subject to independent public audit.
Academic text (2001) -
In some areas outside the capital, European missionaries established themselves as civil authorities as well as religious ones.
Academic text (2006) -
The military is but an instrument for national defense and is unconditionally accountable to the civil authority.
Academic text (2001) -
The first stated that the charter vested civil authority in the Trustees and their representatives alone.
Academic text (2011) -
Yet, while the army pacified the Philippines, friction emerged between the military and civil authorities over the proper course to follow.
Academic text (1998)
Synonyms
889
3.1
A group or organization that has power to make and enforce rules
1
4.4
A person who holds an official government job that is not military
Official people or groups that make rules and make sure others follow them
A person who leads a city or local community and helps run public services
How Powerful
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'civil' (relating to ordinary citizens) + 'authority' (a body that enforces rules) yields an authority concerned with civilian, not military, affairs. This structure and contrast with military authority are cross-linguistically common (e.g., autoridad civil, autorité civile), so a B1 learner who knows the constituents can reliably infer the meaning.
Etymology
Civil authority comes from the parts civil (about people and daily life) and authority ('in charge'). So civil authority means the people or group 'in charge' of normal, 'not military' affairs.