polity

English

Etymology

From Middle French politie, from Latin politia (circa. 1530s C.E.), from Ancient Greek πολιτεία (politeía, “polity, policy, the state”). Doublet of policy and police.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpɒ.lɪ.tɪ/
• IPA^(key): /ˈpɑ.lɪ.ti/

• Audio (UK):

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• Audio (US):

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Noun

polity (plural polities)

1. (politics) An organizational structure of the government of a state, church, etc.
2. (political science) A politically organized unit; a state.

   Different nations have different forms of polities, from provinces and states to territories and municipalities.

Related terms

• police
• policy
• polite
• politic
• political
• politician
• politicize
• politics

 

Translations

an organizational structure of the government

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 政體／政体 (zh) (zhèngtǐ), 政体 (zh) (zhèngtǐ)

• Dutch: bestuursvorm (nl), staatsbestel (nl), leden van een gemeenschap
• Finnish: hallinto (fi), hallintokoneisto (fi)
• German: Gemeinwesen (de) n
• Greek: πολίτευμα (el) n (polítevma)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Hungarian: intézményrendszer (hu), államigazgatás (hu), közigazgatás (hu)
• Japanese: 政体 (ja) (せいたい, seitai)
• Portuguese: regime (pt) m
• Russian: строй (ru) m (stroj), устро́йство (ru) n (ustrójstvo), режи́м (ru) m (režím), фо́рма правле́ния f (fórma pravlénija)
• Spanish: régimen (es) m

politically organized unit

• Dutch: staatsvorm (nl), staatsbestel (nl)
• Finnish: hallintoalue
• Hungarian: államalakulat, politikai entitás, politikai közösség, állam (hu)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Portuguese: estado (pt) m
• Spanish: estado (es) m
• Swedish: statsbildning c

Further reading

• “polity”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “polity”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.