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

(UK) IPA^(key): /ˈpɒ.lɪ.tɪ/
(US, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈpɑ.lɪ.ti/
Audio (UK) (file)
Audio (US) (file)

Noun

polity (plural polities)

(politics) An organizational structure of the government of a state, church, etc.
(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
politic
political
politician
politicize
politics

Translations

an organizational structure of the government

Bulgarian: държавно устройство (dǎržavno ustrojstvo)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 政體／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)
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 (fi)
Hungarian: államalakulat, politikai entitás, politikai közösség, állam (hu)
Portuguese: estado (pt) m
Spanish: estado (es) m
Swedish: statsbildning (sv) c