Civic is an adjective which describes an object or person as having to do with a city or town, or that the object was created or came from a city or town. It specifically has to do with the government of a city or the duties involved with running a city.
Civil is an adjective describing an object or a person relating to citizenship or a citizen (i.e., a member of the community) as opposed to the military or church leadership. Civil rights are things that every person of the community has the right to. This term is not discussing human rights, which are things each human on Earth is entitled to, without the need to be a member of a community.
Civil can also mean to be polite or courteous.
Examples
The veteran pop star was due to be handed the keys of Albufeira – the city’s highest civic honour – but decided over the weekend that he should pull out of today’s ceremony. [Yahoo News UK]
In short, the civic narrative is a nation’s case to its citizens that it is worthy of allegiance. [The Australian]
Alex Himelfarb, once the most senior civil servant in Canada, is asking Islanders to lobby for better terms and cooperative negotiation on federal health funding. [The Guardian]
Two civil rights organizations filed a joint brief in federal court supporting a challenge to Alaska’s same-sex marriage ban. [Alaska Dispatch News]
Asked if the pair can be civil for the rest of the 2014 battle, Mercedes team chairman Niki Lauda told Welt newspaper: “When I think of how the meeting went on Sunday, I doubt it.” [Grand Prix]