Daily Ancestorcivis
Civis is Latin for a citizen; in town registers it usually marks a burgher, a townsman with full civic rights.
Civis means citizen. In town registers it marks a man who held the rights of a citizen of that town, a burgher, as distinct from mere residents. A related medieval word, burgensis, names the same privileged townsman.
If your ancestor is called civis, look for citizenship or burgher records in the town archive, which may give his origin.
As seen in a recordLatin marriage register, Austrian town, 1760s
Copulati sunt Joannes Huber, civis et sartor, et Anna Mayr
Sources
How to cite this page
Daily Ancestor. "civis." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/latin/civis. Last checked 2026-10-10.