Polizei German · revision 34816

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1464, Nuremberg|origins=grc πόλις}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * [ˌpo.liˈt͡saɪ̯]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''Polizei''' ''f'' (genitive Polizei, plural Polizeien)^(Wiktionary)

+ Early New High German wrote ''policy'', ''polizey'' and ''policey''; the Alemannic ''policy'' keeps the older long /iː/ that became the diphthong of ''Polizei''.^(DWB|13, 1981)^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la-med|policia|t=state administration]], from [[la-lat|polītīa]], from [[grc|πολιτεία|tr=politeía|t=citizenship, administration, constitution]], from [[m|grc|πολίτης|tr=polítēs|t=citizen]], from [[m|grc|πόλις|tr=pólis|t=city, state]].^(Kluge 2011|714)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Wiktionary) Pfeifer also names [[it|polizia|t=city administration, public order]] as a possible source.^(Pfeifer 1993) Wahrig points out that [[Politik]], from the same Greek root, came through French, while this word was taken directly from Latin.^(Wahrig Herkunftswörterbuch) The same word is [[nl|politie]], [[en|police]] and [[fr|police]].^(Kluge 2011|714)

+

+ The sources differ on the date of borrowing: Kluge and Wiktionary's German edition give the 14th century, Pfeifer, Duden and the Grimms' dictionary the 15th, and Paul's first record is from Nuremberg in 1464.^(Kluge 2011|714)^(Wiktionary DE)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020|639)^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In 1464 a Nuremberg text speaks of ''pollitzey und regirung'', and Albrecht von Eyb (1472/73) of strengthening ''pollicey und regimentz'': the word meant good order in the community, government and administration.^(Paul 2002) From the 15th to the 17th century it covered government, administration and the supervision of morals in state and town, together with the ordinances that regulated them, and even the state itself.^(DWB|13, 1981)^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Compounds such as ''Polizeiordnung'' (16th century), originally “public order”, came to mean “order kept by the police”.^(Kluge 2011|714)^(Paul 2002) The modern sense developed in the 18th century, when judicial and police matters were separated and special officials were appointed, as the ''Policey-Inspector'' in Prussia (1717); Justi made ''Policey-Wissenschaft'' an academic subject in 1756.^(Paul 2002) The word then passed by metonymy from the administration of the state to its executive organ, the police force (around 1800).^(Kluge 2011|714)^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ The individual officer was at first a ''Polizeidiener'' (1741), then a ''Polizeisoldat'' or, after English ''policeman'', ''Polizeimann'', until [[Polizist]] (1843) prevailed beside ''Schutzmann''.^(Paul 2002) ''Polizeistaat'' became a hostile catchword in the 1830s.^(Paul 2002) Slang names followed in the 19th century, among them ''Polyp'' and ''Polente'' (1856), which Pfeifer explains as a cant alteration influenced by Yiddish ''paltin'' “castle, palace”.^(Paul 2002)^(Pfeifer 1993) Clipped compounds such as ''Kripo'', ''Schupo'' and ''Gestapo'' (1933) belong to the 20th century.^(Paul 2002)^(Pfeifer 1993) The German word was borrowed into Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian and Romanian, and Czech has ''policajt'' “policeman”.^(Wiktionary)^(LWP)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1464 – ''pollitzey'' “good order, government” is recorded in Nuremberg.^(Paul 2002)

+ * 16th century – ''Polizeiordnung'' is recorded.^(Paul 2002)

+ * 1717 – A ''Policey-Inspector'' is appointed in Prussia.^(Paul 2002)

+ * 1756 – Justi writes of ''Policey-Wissenschaft''.^(Paul 2002)

+ * Around 1800 – ''Polizei'' names the police force.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 1830s – ''Polizeistaat'' becomes a catchword.^(Paul 2002)

+ * 1843 – ''Polizist'' is recorded.^(Paul 2002)

+ * 1856 – The slang form ''Bolente'' is recorded.^(Paul 2002)

+ * 1933 – ''Gestapo'' is formed.^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The [[m|en|police]], the state or municipal institution that maintains public order and [[m|en|security]], by force if necessary.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(collective)'' Police officers: ''Die Polizei sperrte die Brücke.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Duden Fremdwörterbuch 2007)

+ # A police station or office: ''Anzeige bei der Polizei erstatten''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Duden Fremdwörterbuch 2007)

+ # ''(obsolete)'' The administration of a state.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(DWB|13, 1981)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[Polizist]]

+ * [[Polizistin]]

+ * [[polizeilich]]

+ * [[Polente]]

+ * [[Politesse]]

+ * [[Kriminalpolizei]]

+ * [[Schutzpolizei]]

+ * [[Polizeistaat]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[Politik]]

+ * [[politisch]]

+ * [[en|police]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Die Polizei, dein Freund und Helfer'' is a set saying, and ''dümmer, als die Polizei erlaubt'' “stupider than the police allow” is a jocular way of calling someone very stupid.^(Duden GWDS 1999) A separate, obsolete ''Polizei'' “politeness, good manners”, recorded in 1694, goes back to Medieval Latin ''policia'' “smoothness, elegance”, from Latin ''polire''.^(DWB|13, 1981)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}