body politic

American  

noun

Political Science.

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

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body politic British  

noun

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

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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

That’s unhealthy for the body politic — and for voters themselves.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 20, 2024

I maintain that one reaches this princedom either with the favour of the common people or with that of the nobility, since these two different humours are found in every body politic.

From "The Prince" by Niccolò Machiavelli