civil officer vs civil authority

civil officer and civil authority both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
civil officer	Yes	No	No	No
civil authority	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, civil officer and civil authority are synonyms defined as:

civil officer and civil authority: a person who exercises authority over civilian affairs

civil officer (noun)	civil authority (noun)
a person who exercises authority over civilian affairs	a person who exercises authority over civilian affairs