politics

See also: polítics

English

Etymology

From the adjective politic, by analogy with Aristotle’s τα πολιτικά (ta politiká, “affairs of state”).

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈpɑl.ɪˌtɪks/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈpɒl.ɪ.tɪks/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: pol‧i‧tics

Noun

politics (countable and uncountable, plural politics)

1. (countable) A methodology and activities associated with running a government, an organization, or a movement.
   • 1996, Jan Jindy Pettman, Worlding Women: A feminist international politics, pages ix-x:

     There are by now many feminisms (Tong, 1989; Humm, 1992). [...] They are in shifting alliance or contest with postmodern critiques, which at times seem to threaten the very category 'women' and its possibilities for a feminist politics.

2. (countable) The profession of conducting political affairs.

   He made a career out of politics.

3. (in the plural) One's political stands and opinions.

   Their politics are clear from the bumper stickers on their cars.

4. (uncountable) Political maneuvers or diplomacy between people, groups, or organizations, especially involving power, influence or conflict.
   • 1999, George Lucas, Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, spoken by Senator Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid):

     There is no stability; only politics. The Republic is not what it once was. The Senate is full of greedy, squabbling delegates. There is no interest in the common good.

5. (in the singular, fandom slang) Real-world beliefs and social issues irrelevant to the topic at hand.

   We're trying to talk about comic books, don't mention politics.

Verb

politics

1. Third-person singular simple present indicative form of politic

Derived terms

Terms derived from politics

• all politics is local
• geopolitics
• necropolitics
• palace politics

• petropolitics
• politic
• political
• politician

• politicize
• retail politics
• sexual politics
• wedge politics

Related terms

Terms etymologically related to politics

• police

• policy

• polity

Translations

a methodology and activities associated with running a government

• Abkhaz: аполитика (aṗoliṭiḳa)
• Afrikaans: politiek (af)
• Albanian: politikë (sq) f
• Amharic: ፖለቲካ (polätika)
• Arabic: سِيَاسَة‎ (ar) f (siyāsa)

  Egyptian Arabic: سياسة‎ f (siyāsa)

• Armenian: քաղաքականություն (hy) (kʿałakʿakanutʿyun)
• Assamese: ৰাজনীতি (razoniti)
• Asturian: política f
• Azerbaijani: siyasət (az), politika (az)
• Bashkir: сәйәсәт (säyäsät), политика (politika)
• Basque: politika (eu)
• Belarusian: палі́тыка (be) f (palítyka)
• Bengali: রাজনীতি (bn) (rajniti)
• Bulgarian: поли́тика (bg) f (polítika)
• Burmese: နိုင်ငံရေး (my) (nuingngam-re:)
• Buryat: улас түрэ (ulas türe)
• Catalan: política (ca) f
• Chechen: политика (politika)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 政治 (zing³ zi⁶)

  Dungan: җынҗы (žɨnžɨ)

  Mandarin: 政治 (zh) (zhèngzhì)

  Min Nan: 政治 (zh-min-nan) (chèng-tī)

• Cornish: politegieth f
• Crimean Tatar: siyaset
• Czech: politika (cs) f
• Danish: politik (da) c
• Dutch: politiek (nl) f
• Esperanto: politiko
• Estonian: poliitika (et)
• Finnish: politiikka (fi)
• French: politique (fr) f
• Galician: política (gl) f
• Georgian: პოლიტიკა (ṗoliṭiḳa)
• German: Politik (de) f
• Greek: πολιτική (el) f (politikí)

  Ancient: πολιτική f (politikḗ)

• Greenlandic: politikki
• Gujarati: રાજકારણ (rājkāraṇ)
• Haitian Creole: politik
• Hausa: siyasa (ha)
• Hebrew: פּוֹלִיטִיקָה‎ (he) f (polítika)
• Hindi: राजनीति (hi) f (rājnīti), सियासत (hi) f (siyāsat)
• Hungarian: politika (hu)
• Icelandic: stjórnmál (is) n pl
• Indonesian: politik (id), siasat (id), siasah (id)
• Interlingua: politica f
• Irish: polaitíocht
• Italian: politica (it) f
• Japanese: 政治 (ja) (せいじ, seiji)
• Jarai: kơđi čar
• Javanese: naya, pulitik (jv)
• Kalmyk: төршл (törşl)
• Kannada: ರಾಜಕೀಯ (kn) (rājakīya)
• Karachay-Balkar: политика (politika)
• Kazakh: саясат (kk) (saäsat), политика (politika)
• Khmer: នយោបាយ (km) (nĕəʼyoobaay)
• Korean: 정치(政治) (ko) (jeongchi)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: ramyarî (ku), siyaset (ku), rêzanî (ku), polîtîka (ku)

• Kyrgyz: саясат (ky) (sayasat), политика (politika)

• Lao: ການເມືອງ (lo) (kān mư̄ang)
• Latin: cīvīlitās f
• Latvian: politika f
• Lithuanian: politika (lt) f
• Macedonian: политика f (politika)
• Malay: politik (ms), siasah (ms)
• Malayalam: രാഷ്ട്രീയം (ml) (rāṣṭrīyaṃ)
• Maltese: politika f
• Manchu: ᡩᠠᠰᠠᠨ (dasan)
• Maori: tōrangapū
• Marathi: राजकारण (rājkāraṇ)
• Moksha: политиксь (politiksʹ), политика (politika)
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: улс төр (uls tör)

• Moroccan Amazigh: ⵜⴰⵙⵔⵜⵉⵜ f (tasrtit)
• Nepali: राजनीति (ne) (rājanīti)
• Norman: politique f
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: politikk (no) m

  Nynorsk: politikk (no) m

• Okinawan: 政治 (しーじ, shiiji)
• Oriya: ରାଜନୀତି (or) (rajôniti)
• Ossetian: политикӕ (politikæ)
• Pashto: سياست‎ (ps) m (seyāsát)
• Persian: سیاست‎ (fa) (siyâsat), پلیتیک‎ (politik)
• Polish: polityka (pl) f
• Portuguese: política (pt) f
• Punjabi: ਸਿਆਸਤ (pa) (siāsat), ਰਾਜਨੀਤੀ (rājnītī)
• Romanian: politică (ro) f
• Russian: поли́тика (ru) f (polítika)
• Rusyn: полі́тіка f (polítika)
• Scottish Gaelic: sluagh-iùl m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: полѝтика f

  Roman: polìtika (sh) f

• Sinhalese: රාජනීතිය (rājanītiya)
• Slovak: politika f
• Slovene: politika (sl) f
• Somali: siyaasadda
• Spanish: política (es) f
• Swahili: siasa (sw)
• Swedish: politik (sv) c
• Tagalog: politika (tl)
• Tajik: сиёсат (tg) (siyosat), политика (politika)
• Tamil: அரசியல் (ta) (araciyal)
• Tatar: сәясәт (tt) (säyasät), политика (politika)
• Telugu: రాజకీయాలు (te) (rājakīyālu)
• Thai: การเมือง (th) (gaan-mʉʉang)
• Tibetan: སྲིད་དོན (srid don), ཆབ་སྲིད (chab srid)
• Tigrinya: ፖለቲካ (polätika)
• Turkish: politika (tr), siyaset (tr)
• Turkmen: syýasat (tk), politika
• Ukrainian: полі́тика (uk) f (polítyka)
• Urdu: سیاست‎ f (siyāsat), راجنیتی‎ f (rājnīti),
• Uyghur: سىياسەت‎ (ug) (siyaset)
• Uzbek: siyosat (uz), politika (uz)
• Vietnamese: chính trị (vi) (政治)
• Welsh: gwleidyddiaeth (cy) f
• Yakut: бэлиитикэ (beliitike), политика (politika)
• Yiddish: פּאָליטיק‎ f (politik)
• Yoruba: ìṣèlú

Further reading

• “politics” in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• “politics” in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Anagrams

• colpitis, psilotic