body politic

American  

noun

Political Science.

1. a people regarded as a political body under an organized government.

---

body politic British  

noun

1. the people of a nation or the nation itself considered as a political entity; the state

---

Etymology

Origin of body politic

1425–75; late Middle English bodi politik

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

body politic

Social media and AI harm the body politic in ways Tocqueville and Lincoln couldn’t possibly foresee.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026

Those insults are fed intravenously and instantaneously into the body politic due to our interconnectivity.

From Salon ● Feb. 6, 2026

What hope of freedom was there unless Black Americans were accepted as full members of the body politic?

From Slate ● Oct. 7, 2025

“If we possess anything important in our citizenship, it’s the ability to vote and to participate in the body politic of our localities in our nation,” Lacy said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 19, 2024

Through The Mecca I saw that we were, in our own segregated body politic, cosmopolitans.

From "Between the World and Me" by Ta-Nehisi Coates