Gaudia Civis
n.
a humble pulse of gratification you feel when acting as a citizen— serving on a jury, standing in line at a polling place, taking part in a debate at a town meeting—where you can actually feel the gears of democracy turning ever so slightly, because you actually had a hand in it.
Latin gaudia, joys + civis, citizen. Pronounced “gou-dee-uh siv-is.”
