. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
you have here. The definition of the word
will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
Etymology
From Middle French police, from Latin polītīa (“state, government”), from Ancient Greek πολιτεία (politeía). Doublet of policy and polity.
Pronunciation
Noun
police pl (normally plural, singular police)
- A public agency charged with enforcing laws and maintaining public order, usually being granted special privileges to do so, particularly
- 1943, Charles Reith, British Police and the Democratic Ideal, pp. 3–4:
- There are nine Principles of Police:
...
7 To maintain at all times a relationship with the public that gives reality to the historic tradition that the police are the public and that the public are the police; the police being only members of the public who are paid to give full-time attention to duties which are incumbent on every citizen, in the interests of community welfare and existence.
- 1990 Sept. 13, David Black & al., "Prescription for Death", Law & Order, 00:00:01:
- In the criminal justice system, the People are represented by two separate yet equally important groups: the police, who investigate crime, and the district attorneys, who prosecute the offenders.
2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Citadel Station: Citadel Security Services (C-Sec) Codex entry:Citadel Security is a volunteer police service answering to the Citadel Council. The 200,000 constables of C-Sec are responsible for maintaining public order in the densely populated Citadel.
2019 August 11, Mike Ives, “Hong Kong Protesters Gather Amid Fears of Mob Violence”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2019-08-11:The rally on Sunday in Victoria Park, in the Causeway Bay district, was authorized in advance by the police. But protesters were also expected to begin marching later in the day from Sham Shui Po, a working-class neighborhood on the Kowloon peninsula, across the harbor from North Point. The police rejected their application for a permit.
Call the police!
- (Canada, US and historical) A department of local (usually municipal) government responsible for general law enforcement.
- (UK) A branch of the Home Office responsible for general law enforcement within a specific territory.
- (Australia, New Zealand) Any of the formally enacted law enforcement agencies at various levels of government.
- (usually plural only) The staff of such a department or agency, particularly its officers; (regional, chiefly US, Caribbean, Jamaica, Scotland, countable) an individual police officer.
- 2006 Sept. 17, David Mills, "Soft Eyes", The Wire, 00:06:50:
- Pearlman: Very clever, Lester. You got it all figured, huh?
Freamon: Me? I'm just a police.
2006, David Simon, Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets, →ISBN, page 440:This time it is the worst kind of call a murder police can get.
- (figuratively, usually ironic and mildly derogatory) People who try to enforce norms or standards as if granted authority similar to the police.
2010, Mary Beard, It's a Don's Life, →ISBN, page 147:Then there were the taste police, who thought that this bulky modern machine was an inappropriate intrusion […]
2016 February 5, “How the circumflex became France's bête noire”, in The Guardian:A major drama has broken out in France after the local language police decreed one of their cute little accents to be largely redundant
- (military, slang) Cleanup of a military facility, as a formal duty.
1907, Hearings Before the Committee on Military Affairs, United States Senate, concerning the Affray at Brownsville, Tex. on the Night of August 13 and 14, 1906, volume 2:Q. […] What did you do that day? — A. I was cleaning up around quarters.
Q. You had been on guard and went on police duty? You were policing, cleaning up around the barracks? — A. Yes, sir.
- (archaic, now rare) Synonym of administration, the regulation of a community or society.
2002, Colin Jones, The Greta Nation, Penguin, published 2003, page 218:The notion of ‘police’ – that is, rational administration – was seen as a historical force which could bring civilized improvement to societies.
- (obsolete) Alternative form of policy.
- (obsolete) Alternative form of polity, civilization, a regulated community.
Usage notes
In North America and the UK, local police are generally distinguished from regional, national, and specialized law enforcement officers such as sheriffs, marshals, bailiffs, FBI special agents, and NCA investigators. In Australia and New Zealand and in translation of the law enforcement agencies of other countries, police may refer indiscriminately to law enforcement agencies and officers at any level.
Synonyms
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
local or general law enforcement agency
- Abkhaz: аполициа (apʼolicja), амилициа (amilicja)
- Afrikaans: polisie (af)
- Albanian: policia f, polici (sq) f (indefinite)
- Amharic: ፖሊስ (polis)
- Arabic: شُرْطَة f (šurṭa), بُولِيس (ar) m (būlīs)
- Egyptian Arabic: بوليس m (būlīs), شرطة f (šurṭa)
- Hijazi Arabic: شُرْطة f (šurṭa), بوليس m (būlīs) (dated)
- Moroccan Arabic: بوليس m (būlīs)
- South Levantine Arabic: بوليس m (būlīs), شرطة f (šurṭa)
- Armenian: ոստիկանություն (hy) (ostikanutʻyun)
- Aromanian: pulitsii, pulitsie, astinumii, astinumie (female) (indefinite), pulitsia, astinumia (female), (definite)
- Assamese: পুলিচ (pulis), আৰক্ষী (arokhi), নিৰাপত্তাৰক্ষী (nirapottarokhi)
- Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܫܘܼܪܛܵܐ (šurṭa)
- Azerbaijani: polis (az), zabitiyyə (archaism)
- Basque: polizia (eu)
- Belarusian: палі́цыя f (palícyja), мілі́цыя f (milícyja)
- Bengali: পুলিশ (bn) (puliś), আরক্ষী (bn) (arokkhi), নিরাপত্তারক্ষী (nirapottarokkhi)
- Breton: polis (br)
- Bulgarian: поли́ция f (polícija)
- Burmese: ရဲ (my) (rai:), ပုလိပ် (my) (pu.lip)
- Catalan: policia (ca) f
- Central Dusun: pulis
- Chechen: милцо (milco)
- Chinese:
- Cantonese: 警察 (ging2 caat3)
- Dungan: җинца (žinca), яйи (i͡ayi), милис (milis) (militia)
- Eastern Min: 警察 (gīng-chák)
- Hakka: 警察 (kín-chhat)
- Hokkien: 警察 (zh-min-nan) (kèng-chhat, kéng-chhat)
- Jin: 警察 (jing2 ca1)
- Mandarin: 警察 (zh) (jǐngchá), 警方 (zh) (jǐngfāng), 公安 (zh) (gōng'ān) ((Ministry of) Public Security (PRC))
- Wu: 警察 (5cin-tshaq)
- Cornish: kreslu m
- Corsican: please add this translation if you can
- Crimean Tatar: polis
- Czech: policie (cs) f
- Danish: politi (da) n
- Dutch: politie (nl) f
- Esperanto: polico
- Estonian: politsei
- Ewe: kpovitɔ
- Faroese: løgregla f
- Finnish: poliisi (fi)
- French: police (fr) f
- Galician: policía (gl) f
- Georgian: პოლიცია (ṗolicia)
- German: Polizei (de) f
- Greek: αστυνομία (el) f (astynomía)
- Greenlandic: politiit pl
- Gujarati: પોલીસ (polīs)
- Haitian Creole: lapolis
- Hawaiian: mākaʻi
- Hebrew: משטרה \ מִשְׁטָרָה (he) f (mishtará)
- Hindi: पोलिस m (polis), पुलिस (hi) m (pulis) आरक्षी (ārakṣī),
- Hungarian: rendőrség (hu)
- Icelandic: lögregla (is) f
- Ido: polico (io)
- Indonesian: polisi (id)
- Irish: gardaí m pl, (specifically in Ireland) Gardaí m pl, póilíní m pl, péas m pl
- Italian: polizia (it) f, forza pubblica (it) f
- Japanese: 警察 (ja) (けいさつ, keisatsu)
- Kalmyk: цагда (tsagda)
- Kannada: ಪೊಲೀಸ್ (polīs)
- Kazakh: полиция (kk) (polisiä), милиция (milisiä)
- Khmer: ប៉ូលិស (km) (poulih), ប៉ូលីស (pouliih), តម្រួត (km) (tɑmruət), កុងអាន (kongʼaan), នគរបាល (nɔkɔɔ baal)
- Korean: 경찰(警察) (ko) (gyeongchal)
- Kurdish:
- Central Kurdish: پۆلیس (polîs)
- Northern Kurdish: polîs (ku)
- Kyrgyz: милиция (ky) (militsiya), полиция (ky) (politsiya)
- Laboya: palihi
- Ladino: polis
- Lao: ຕຳຫຼວດ (lo) (tam lūat), ໂປລິດ (pō lit)
- Latin: vigilia f, vigiles m pl, denutiatores m pl, denuntiatores, biocolyta, custos, publicus (la), denuntiator
- Latvian: policija (lv) f
- Limburgish: pliesj m
- Lithuanian: policija (lt) f
- Luxembourgish: Polizei f
- Macedonian: поли́ција f (polícija), мили́ција f (milícija)
- Malay: polis (ms) (Malaysia, Singapore), polisi (Riau, Sumatra), serdadu (Southern Thailand), mata-mata
- Malayalam: പോലീസ് (ml) (pōlīsŭ)
- Maltese: pulizija f
- Manx: poleenyn
- Maori: pirihimana
- Marathi: पोलीस (polīs)
- Mongolian:
- Cyrillic: цагдаа (mn) (cagdaa)
- Mongolian: ᠴᠠᠭᠳᠠᠭᠠ (čaɣdag-a)
- Navajo: siláo
- Nepali: प्रहरी (prahari)
- Norman: police f (Jersey)
- North Frisian: politii
- Northern Sami: boliisa
- Norwegian:
- Bokmål: politi (no) n
- Nynorsk: politi n
- Occitan: polícia (oc) f
- Odia: ପୁଲିସ୍ (or) (pulis)
- Okinawan: 警察 (きーさち, kīsachi)
- Ossetian: полицӕ (policæ), милицӕ (milicæ)
- Pashto: پوليس (ps) m (polis)
- Persian:
- Dari: پولِیس (fa) (pōlīs)
- Iranian Persian: پُلیس (fa) (polis), پاسْبان (fa) (pâsbân)
- Plautdietsch: Polizei f
- Polish: policja (pl) f
- Portuguese: polícia (pt) f
- Punjabi: ਪੁਲਿਸ (pulis)
- Quechua: chapaq
- Romanian: poliție (ro) f
- Romansch: polizia f
- Russian: поли́ция (ru) f (polícija), мили́ция (ru) f (milícija)
- Scots: polis
- Scottish Gaelic: poileas m
- Serbo-Croatian:
- Cyrillic: полѝција f, мѝлӣција f
- Roman: polìcija (sh) f, mìlīcija (sh) f
- Sinhalese: පොලීසිය (polīsiya)
- Slovak: polícia f
- Slovene: policija f
- Somali: boolis
- Sorbian:
- Lower Sorbian: policija f
- Upper Sorbian: policija
- Spanish: policía (es) f
- Sundanese: pulisi (su)
- Swahili: polisi (sw)
- Swedish: polis (sv) c
- Tagalog: pulis (tl), pulisya
- Tajik: милитсия (tg) (militsiya), политсия (politsiya), полисия (polisiya)
- Tamil: காவல் (ta) (kāval), போலீஸ் (ta) (pōlīs)
- Telugu: రక్షక దళము (rakṣaka daḷamu), పోలీసు (te) (pōlīsu)
- Thai: ตำรวจ (th) (dtam-rùuat), โปลิศ (th) (Obsolete)
- Tibetan: ཉེན་རྟོག་པ (nyen rtog pa)
- Tigrinya: ፖሊስ (polis)
- Turkish: polis (tr), sakçı (tr), kınçal
- Turkmen: polisiýa
- Ukrainian: полі́ція f (polícija), мілі́ція f (milícija)
- Urdu: پُولِس m (pūlis), پُولِیس m (pūlīs), شُرْطَہ m (śurta), پاسْبان m (pāsbān)
- Uyghur: ساقچى (saqchi)
- Uzbek: militsiya (uz), politsiya (uz)
- Vietnamese: cảnh sát (vi) (警察), công an (vi) (公安)
- Volapük: pold (vo)
- Walloon: please add this translation if you can
- Welsh: heddlu (cy) m
- West Frisian: polysje
- Yiddish: פּאָליציי f (politsey)
- Zhuang: gingjcaz
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Verb
police (third-person singular simple present polices, present participle policing, simple past and past participle policed)
- (transitive) To enforce the law and keep order among (a group).
Extra security was hired to police the crowd at the big game.
2012 May 24, Nathan Rabin, “Film: Reviews: Men In Black 3”, in The Onion AV Club:Smith returns in Men In Black 3 as a veteran agent of a secret organization dedicated to policing the earth’s many extraterrestrials.
2013 August 10, Schumpeter, “Cronies and capitols”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8848:Policing the relationship between government and business in a free society is difficult. Businesspeople have every right to lobby governments, and civil servants to take jobs in the private sector. Governments have to find the best people to fill important jobs: there is a limited supply of people who understand the financial system, for example.
2021 July 28, Paul Clifton, “Network News: Confusion and dissent over face mask requirements: Reaction to the Guidance: Train operators”, in RAIL, number 936, page 7:Train operators were reluctant to speak to RAIL on the record, but one responded: "The unions are rightly very clear that they don't want staff policing face coverings after the removal of legal backing.
- (transitive, intransitive, military, slang) To clean up an area.
1900, Proceedings of the eighth annual meeting, Association of Military Surgeons of the United States:This comes to him through the company housekeeping, for in the field each organization takes care of itself, cooks its own food, makes its own beds, does its own policing (cleaning up); […]
1907, Hearings Before the Committee on Military Affairs, United States Senate, concerning the Affray at Brownsville, Tex. on the Night of August 13 and 14, 1906, volume 2:Q. […] What did you do that day? — A. I was cleaning up around quarters.
Q. You had been on guard and went on police duty? You were policing, cleaning up around the barracks? — A. Yes, sir.
- 1986, Oliver Stone, Platoon (film script)
- ELIAS: Police up your extra ammo and frags, don't leave nothing for the dinks.
2006, Robert B. Parker, Hundred-Dollar Baby, Putnam,, →ISBN, page 275:"Fire off several rounds in a residential building and stop to police the brass?"
- (transitive, figurative) To enforce norms or standards upon.
- to police a person's identity
Derived terms
Anagrams
Czech
Etymology
Inherited from Old Czech policě, from Proto-Slavic *polica.
Pronunciation
Noun
police f
- shelf (a structure)
Declension
Declension of police (soft feminine)
Derived terms
Further reading
- police in Příruční slovník jazyka českého, 1935–1957
- police in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého, 1960–1971, 1989
- police in Internetová jazyková příručka
Danish
Etymology
Via Middle French police and Italian polizza from Ancient Greek ἀπόδειξις (apódeixis, “proof”).
Pronunciation
Noun
police c (singular definite policen, plural indefinite policer)
- policy (an insurance contract)
Declension
French
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
Borrowed from Late Latin polītīa (“state, government”), from Ancient Greek πολιτεία (politeía).
Noun
police f (plural polices)
- police
- Coordinate terms: gendarmerie, sûreté
- Fuyez, la police arrive ! ― Run, the police are coming!
- (Quebec, colloquial) cop (police officer)
- Synonyms: flic, gendarme, keuf, policier
Derived terms
Related terms
Descendants
Etymology 2
Borrowed from Italian polizza.
Noun
police f (plural polices)
- (insurance) policy
- police d’assurance ― insurance policy
- (typography) fount, font
- police de caractères ― font family
- police d’écriture ― typeface
Derived terms
Descendants
Etymology 3
See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.
Verb
police
- inflection of policer:
- first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
- second-person singular imperative
Further reading
Anagrams
Middle French
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin politia.
Noun
police f (plural polices)
- governance; management
- 1577, Jean d'Ogerolles, Discours sur la contagion de peste qui a esté ceste presente annee en la ville de Lyon, front cover
contenant les causes d'icelle, l'ordre, moyen et police tenue pour en purger, nettoyer et delivrer la ville (subheading)- containing the causes, the order, means and management employed to purge, clean and deliver the city
Related terms
Norman
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin politia.
Noun
police f (uncountable)
- (Jersey) police
Serbo-Croatian
Noun
police
- inflection of polica:
- genitive singular
- nominative/accusative/vocative plural
Slovak
Pronunciation
Noun
police
- nominative plural of polica