polity

[ pol-i-tee ]

/ ˈpɒl ɪ ti /

noun, plural pol·i·ties.

a particular form or system of government: civil polity; ecclesiastical polity.

the condition of being constituted as a state or other organized community or body: The polity of ancient Athens became a standard for later governments.

government or administrative regulation: The colonists demanded independence in matters of internal polity.

a state or other organized community or body.

Nearby words

politicking, politico, politico-, politics, politics makes strange bedfellows, polity, politzer bag, politzerization, polje, polk, polk, james k.

Origin of polity

1530–40; < Latin polītīa < Greek polīteía citizenship, government, form of government, commonwealth, equivalent to polī́te-, variant stem of polī́tēs citizen (see polis, -ite¹) + -ia -ia

Can be confused

policy polity

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for polities

The gulf between mercantile hubs and the polities in which they are lodged is not new.
UKIP’s Nativist Rebellion Against London|Lloyd Green|May 26, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The same preferences are reflected in what the polities omit to do.
Can We Choose Recovery?|David Frum|April 19, 2012|DAILY BEAST
These preferences are reflected in what the polities do, how they behave.
Can We Choose Recovery?|David Frum|April 19, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Thus the slaves themselves were forcing the 006issue, regardless of polities and diplomacy.
Abraham Lincoln, Vol. II|John T. Morse

They turned away from the problems of the physical universe to the problems of human lifemorality and polities.
A History of Freedom of Thought|John Bagnell Bury
Hero-worship, perennial amongst men; the cornerstone of polities in the Future.
Sartor Resartus, and On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and the Heroic in History|Thomas Carlyle
His polities, however, are not in question here; the attraction is of a different order.'
Maurice Tiernay Soldier of Fortune|Charles James Lever
It will not suffice that we have rejected the foundation of slavery, on which all the Greek polities rested.
The Evolution of States|J. M. Robertson

British Dictionary definitions for polities

polity

/ (ˈpɒlɪtɪ) /

noun plural -ties

a form of government or organization of a state, church, society, etc; constitution

a politically organized society, state, city, etc

the management of public or civil affairs

political organization

Word Origin for polity

C16: from Latin polītīa, from Greek politeia citizenship, civil administration, from politēs citizen, from polis city

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012