What is "civil engineering"

Engineering \En`gi*neer"ing\, n. Originally, the art of managing engines; in its modern and extended sense, the art and science by which the properties of matter are made useful to man, whether in structures, machines, chemical substances, or living organisms; the occupation and work of an engineer. In the modern sense, the application of mathematics or systematic knowledge beyond the routine skills of practise, for the design of any complex system which performs useful functions, may be considered as engineering, including such abstract tasks as designing software ( software engineering).

Note: In a comprehensive sense, engineering includes architecture as a mechanical art, in distinction from architecture as a fine art. It was formerly divided into military engineering, which is the art of designing and constructing offensive and defensive works, and civil engineering, in a broad sense, as relating to other kinds of public works, machinery, etc.

Civil engineering, in modern usage, is strictly the art of planning, laying out, and constructing fixed public works, such as railroads, highways, canals, aqueducts, water works, bridges, lighthouses, docks, embankments, breakwaters, dams, tunnels, etc.

Mechanical engineering relates to machinery, such as steam engines, machine tools, mill work, etc.

Mining engineering deals with the excavation and working of mines, and the extraction of metals from their ores, etc. Engineering is further divided into steam engineering, gas engineering, agricultural engineering, topographical engineering, electrical engineering, etc.

Civil \Civ"il\, a. [L. civilis, fr. civis citizen: cf. F. civil. See City.]

1. Pertaining to a city or state, or to a citizen in his relations to his fellow citizens or to the state; within the city or state.

2. Subject to government; reduced to order; civilized; not barbarous; -- said of the community.

   England was very rude and barbarous; for it is but even the other day since England grew civil.
   --Spenser.

3. Performing the duties of a citizen; obedient to government; -- said of an individual.

   Civil men come nearer the saints of God than others; they come within a step or two of heaven.
   --Preston

4. Having the manners of one dwelling in a city, as opposed to those of savages or rustics; polite; courteous; complaisant; affable.

   Note: ``A civil man now is one observant of slight external courtesies in the mutual intercourse between man and man; a civil man once was one who fulfilled all the duties and obligations flowing from his position as a 'civis' and his relations to the other members of that 'civitas.'''
   --Trench

5. Pertaining to civic life and affairs, in distinction from military, ecclesiastical, or official state.

6. Relating to rights and remedies sought by action or suit distinct from criminal proceedings.

   Civil action, an action to enforce the rights or redress the wrongs of an individual, not involving a criminal proceeding.

   Civil architecture, the architecture which is employed in constructing buildings for the purposes of civil life, in distinction from military and naval architecture, as private houses, palaces, churches, etc.

   Civil death. (Law.) See under Death.

   Civil engineering. See under Engineering.

   Civil law. See under Law.

   Civil list. See under List.

   Civil remedy (Law), that given to a person injured, by action, as opposed to a criminal prosecution.

   Civil service, all service rendered to and paid for by the state or nation other than that pertaining to naval or military affairs.

   Civil service reform, the substitution of business principles and methods for the spoils system in the conduct of the civil service, esp. in the matter of appointments to office.

   Civil state, the whole body of the laity or citizens not included under the military, maritime, and ecclesiastical states.

   Civil suit. Same as Civil action.

   Civil war. See under War.

   Civil year. See under Year.

n. The technical design and construction of public works (buildings, roads, bridges, harbors, public greens ...) and/or technically equivalent private (usually corporate) ones

n. the branch of engineering concerned with the design and construction of such public works as dams or bridges

Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including works like roads, bridges, canals, dams, and buildings. Civil engineering is the second-oldest engineering discipline after military engineering, and it is defined to distinguish non-military engineering from military engineering. It is traditionally broken into several sub-disciplines including architectural engineering, environmental engineering, geotechnical engineering, control engineering, structural engineering, earthquake engineering, transportation engineering, forensic engineering, municipal or urban engineering, water resources engineering, materials engineering, wastewater engineering, offshore engineering, facade engineering, coastal engineering, construction surveying, and construction engineering. Civil engineering takes place in the public sector from municipal through to national governments, and in the private sector from individual homeowners through to international companies.