policeman English · revision 39954

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=1788, Parliamentary Register of Ireland}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /pəˈliːsmən/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a compound of [[police]] and [[man]].^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002)^(Dictionary.com 2016) The OED compares the slightly earlier [[police officer]].^(OED 2026) The noun ''police'' had meant civil administration and government; its use for the force that keeps public order and fights crime was taken from French in the early 18th century and at first referred to France and other foreign countries.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A member of a police force: the OED's first example is from the ''Parliamentary Register'' of Ireland in 1788,^(OED 2026)^(HTOED) also the date Merriam-Webster gives.^(MWU 2024) Etymonline dates the word to 1790,^(Etymonline) and Dictionary.com to 1795–1805.^(Dictionary.com 2016)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ By 1806 ''policeman'' was used figuratively for a person or thing that watches over others and keeps them in order,^(OED 2026)^(HTOED) a use now heard in phrases such as "the world's policeman".^(MWU 2024) Several specialized senses followed: a soldier ant (1877),^(OED 2026) a glass rod tipped with rubber for scraping a laboratory vessel, also called a ''rubber policeman'' (1888),^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002) a member of a ship's watch who stays awake to rouse the others (1929),^(OED 2026) and in ice hockey a player who protects his teammates from rough play (1959).^(OED 2026) In Victorian slang a ''policeman'' was a bluebottle fly, a pun on ''bluebottle'' as a name for a constable (1860),^(GDoS) and among criminals the word was an insult for an untrustworthy man or an informer from 1873;^(GDoS) the OED has the "informer" sense from 1923.^(OED 2026) An object that discourages or slows people down was called a ''policeman'' from 1951, now mostly in the British ''sleeping policeman'', a speed bump.^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1788 – a member of a police force.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1806 – figuratively, someone or something that keeps order.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1860 – (slang) a bluebottle fly.^(GDoS)

+ * 1873 – (criminals' slang) an untrustworthy person, an informer.^(GDoS)

+ * 1877 – a soldier ant (obsolete).^(OED 2026)

+ * 1888 – a rubber-tipped rod used in a laboratory.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1929 – (nautical) a member of the watch who wakes the crew.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1951 – an obstacle or deterrent, as in ''sleeping policeman''.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1959 – (ice hockey) a player who protects teammates.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A man who is a member of a [[police]] force; a male police [[officer]], especially a [[constable]].^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # A person, group or country that acts to keep others in [[order]] or to enforce rules: ''The agency sees itself as the policeman of the banking sector.''^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)

+ # (chemistry) A glass rod with a piece of [[rubber]] on the end, used to scrape solids from the sides of a vessel; a ''rubber policeman''.^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002)

+ # (ice hockey) A player whose job is to protect teammates from rough play by the other team; an [[enforcer]].^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[policemanlike]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[police]]

+ * [[policy]]

+ * [[politics]]

+ * [[constable]]

+ * [[cop]]

+ * [[bobby]]

+ * [[peeler]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}