police

English Online Dictionary. What means police‎? What does police mean?

English

Etymology

From Middle French police, from Latin polītīa (“state, government”), from Ancient Greek πολιτεία (politeía). Doublet of policy and polity.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General Australian, General American, Scotland) IPA^(key): /pəˈliːs/, [pʰə̆ˈliˑs]
• (England, colloquial) IPA^(key): /ˈpl̩iːs/
• (Southern US, African-American Vernacular, Indic) IPA^(key): /ˈpoʊ.liːs/
• Hyphenation: po‧lice
• Rhymes: -iːs

Noun

police pl (normally plural, singular police)

2. (law enforcement) A public agency charged with enforcing laws and maintaining public order, usually being granted special privileges to do so, particularly [from 18th c.]
   • 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.
   1. (Canada, US and historical) A department of local (usually municipal) government responsible for general law enforcement.

   2. (UK) A branch of the Home Office responsible for general law enforcement within a specific territory.

   3. (Australia, New Zealand) Any of the formally enacted law enforcement agencies at various levels of government.
3. (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. [from 19th c.]
   • 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.
4. (figuratively, usually ironic and mildly derogatory) People who try to enforce norms or standards as if granted authority similar to the police.
5. (military, slang) Cleanup of a military facility, as a formal duty.
6. (archaic, now rare) Synonym of administration, the regulation of a community or society. [from 17th c.]
7. (obsolete) Alternative form of policy. [15th–19th c.]
8. (obsolete) Alternative form of polity, civilization, a regulated community. [16th–19th c.]

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

• (law enforcement agency): See Thesaurus:police
• (law enforcement officers): See Thesaurus:police officer

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Verb

police (third-person singular simple present polices, present participle policing, simple past and past participle policed)

1. (transitive) To enforce the law and keep order among (a group).
2. (ambitransitive, military, slang) To clean up an area.
   • 1986, Oliver Stone, Platoon (film script)

     ELIAS: Police up your extra ammo and frags, don't leave nothing for the dinks.
3. (transitive, figurative) To enforce norms or standards upon.

   to police a person's identity

Derived terms

• hyperpolice
• self-police
• tone policing

Anagrams

• ecilop

Czech

Etymology

Inherited from Old Czech policě, from Proto-Slavic *polica. By surface analysis, půl +‎ -ice.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈpolɪt͡sɛ]

Noun

police f

1. shelf (a structure)

Declension

Derived terms

Further reading

• “police”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “police”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
• “police”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2025

Danish

Etymology

Via Middle French police and Italian polizza from Ancient Greek ἀπόδειξις (apódeixis, “proof”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [pʰoˈliːsə]

Noun

police c (singular definite policen, plural indefinite policer)

1. policy (an insurance contract)

Declension

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pɔ.lis/
• Rhymes: -is

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Late Latin polītīa (“state, government”), from Ancient Greek πολιτεία (politeía).

Noun

police f (plural polices)

1. police

   Coordinate terms: gendarmerie, sûreté

   Fuyez, la police arrive ! ― Run, the police are coming!

2. (Quebec, colloquial) cop (police officer)

   Synonyms: flic, gendarme, keuf, policier

Derived terms

Related terms

• policier
• policière

Descendants

• → Amharic: ፖሊስ (polis)
• → Chadian Arabic: بوليس (bōlīs)
• → Hunsrik: Puliss
• → Persian: پلیس (polis)

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Italian polizza.

Noun

police f (plural polices)

1. (insurance) policy

   police d'assurance ― insurance policy

2. (typography) font

   police de caractères ― font family

   police d'écriture ― typeface

Derived terms

• police d'écriture

Descendants

• → German: Police
• → Ottoman Turkish: پولیس (polis)
  • Turkish: polis

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

police

1. inflection of policer:
   1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
   2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

• “police”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• picole, picolé

Middle French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin politia.

Noun

police f (plural polices)

1. 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

Related terms

• policie

Norman

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin politia.

Noun

police f (uncountable)

1. (Jersey) police

Serbo-Croatian

Noun

police (Cyrillic spelling полице)

1. inflection of polica:
   1. genitive singular
   2. nominative/accusative/vocative plural

Slovak

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpɔlit͡sɛ/

Noun

police

1. genitive singular of polica
2. nominative plural of polica
3. accusative plural of polica