police English · revision 2502

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1530|origins=grc πόλις}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /pəˈliːs/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|frm|police|t=organized government, civil administration]],^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002)^(MWU 2024) from [[la-med|polītia|t=citizenship, government]],^(COED 2004)^(Cresswell 2021)^(SOED 2002) from Latin [[m|la|polītīa|t=the state]], from [[grc|πολιτεία|tr=politeía|t=citizenship, government]], from [[m|grc|πολίτης|tr=polítēs|t=citizen]], from [[m|grc|πόλις|tr=pólis|t=city]].^(AHD 2000)^(MWU 2024) The older English form [[m|enm|policie]] is the same word as [[policy]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Cresswell 2021)^(Klein 1966) Barnhart explains that the modern law-enforcement sense was borrowed again from modern French.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The regulation and control of a community, civil organization: 1530.^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)^(Etymonline) The Word Origins dictionary notes that in the 15th century ''police'' was another word for ''policy''.^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Until the mid-19th century ''police'' in England meant civil administration in general.^(Etymonline) The sense “maintenance of public order” came from French at the end of the 17th century^(Etymonline)^(Klein 1966) and is recorded from 1716, after ''Commissioners of Police'' in 1714,^(Barnhart 1988) at first mostly of France and other foreign countries.^(Etymonline) Barnhart finds the word used of the people who enforce the law about 1730 in Scotland.^(Barnhart 1988) The first force so called in England was the Marine Police, set up about 1798 to protect goods in the Port of London,^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021) and the London force of 1829 was long known as the ''New Police''.^(Cresswell 2021) ''Policeman'' is from 1801, ''police force'' from 1838, in Dickens, and ''police dog'' from 1908.^(Barnhart 1988) The verb meant “to keep order in” in 1589,^(Barnhart 1988)^(MW Collegiate) “to control by means of police” from 1837^(Etymonline) or 1841,^(Barnhart 1988) and in American English “to clean up (a camp)” from 1851.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1530 – civil organization.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1589 – verb, to keep order.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1716 – public order.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1730 – law enforcers, in Scotland.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1798 – the Marine Police.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1801 – ''policeman''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1829 – the New Police in London.^(Cresswell 2021)

+ * 1838 – ''police force'' (Dickens).^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1851 – verb, to clean up a camp.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The government department responsible for keeping order, enforcing the [[law]] and preventing and detecting crime.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # The members of such a department; [[police officer|alt=police officers]].^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # A body of people with similar duties in an organization: ''campus police''.^(AHD)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To keep order in or control, with or as if with police.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # ''(US military)'' To make neat and clean: ''police the barracks''.^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[policeable]]

+ * [[policer]]

+ * [[overpolice]]

+ * [[policeperson]]

+ * [[prepolice]]

+ * [[policeman]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[policy]]

+ * [[polis]]

+ * [[political]]

+ * [[politician]]

+ * [[politicise]]

+ * [[politicize]]

+ * [[politic]]

+ * [[politics]]

+ * [[polity]]

+ * [[metropolis]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}