police

police
\ \ [16] Etymologically, the police are in charge of the administration of a ‘city’. In fact, police is essentially the same word as policy ‘plan of action’. Both go back to Latin polītīa ‘civil administration’, a descendant of Greek pólis ‘city’. In medieval Latin a variant polītia emerged, which became French police. English took it over, and at first continued to use it for ‘civil administration’ (Edmund Burke as late as 1791 described the Turks as ‘a barbarous nation, with a barbarous neglect of police, fatal to the human race’). Its specific application to the administration of public order emerged in France in the early 18th century, and the first body of public-order officers to be named police in England was the Marine Police, a force set up around 1798 to protect merchandise in the Port of London.
\ \ Cf.⇒ POLITICS

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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  • police — 1. (po li s ) s. f. 1°   Organisation politique. •   La pente vers soi est le commencement de tout désordre, en guerre, en police, en économie, PASC. Pens. XXIV, 56, éd. HAVET.. •   La police céleste avec laquelle Dieu régit les hommes l oblige à …   Dictionnaire de la Langue Française d'Émile Littré

  • Police — Po*lice , n. [F., fr. L. politia the condition of a state, government, administration, Gr. ?, fr. ? to be a citizen, to govern or administer a state, fr. ? citizen, fr. ? city; akin to Skr. pur, puri. Cf. {Policy} polity, {Polity}.] 1. A judicial …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • police — po·lice 1 vt po·liced, po·lic·ing: to control, regulate, or keep in order esp. as an official duty police the area police 2 n pl police 1: the control and regulation of affairs affecting the order and welfare of a political unit and its citizens… …   Law dictionary

  • Police FC — Police Football Club can refer to * Police FC (Uganda) Police Football Team in Uganda * Police FC (Iraq), also known as ash Shurta a football team in Iraq * Police F.C. Police Football Team in Isle of Man * Police FC (Thailand) Police Football… …   Wikipedia

  • Police — bezeichnet: Police (Woiwodschaft Westpommern) (deutsch: Pölitz), eine Stadt in Pommern, Polen Police nad Metují (deutsch: Politz an der Mettau), eine Stadt im Okres Náchod, Tschechien Police u Mohelnice (deutsch: Polleitz), eine Gemeinde im Okres …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • police — [pə lēs′] n. [Fr < LL politia, administration of the commonwealth (in L, the state) < Gr politeia, the state, citizenship < politēs, citizen < polis, city < IE * pel , fortress (> Sans pūr, town), orig., filled wall, special use …   English World dictionary

  • Police — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Police puede referirse a: Police (Polonia), es una ciudad en Polonia, en la voivodia de Pomerania Occidental. The Police, una banda de rock new wave inglesa. Police, una película de 1916 de Charlie Chaplin. Obtenido… …   Wikipedia Español

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  • police — po‧lice [pəˈliːs] verb [transitive] to control a particular activity or industry by making sure that people follow the correct rules; = REGULATE: • The agency was set up to police the nuclear power industry. * * * police UK US /pəˈliːs/ verb [T]… …   Financial and business terms

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