polity

American  

[pol-i-tee] / ˈpɒl ɪ ti /

noun

• polities
  plural

1. a particular form or system of government.

   civil polity; ecclesiastical polity.

2. 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.

3. government or administrative regulation.

   The colonists demanded independence in matters of internal polity.

4. a state or other organized community or body.

---

polity British  

/ ˈpɒlɪtɪ /

noun

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

2. a politically organized society, state, city, etc

3. the management of public or civil affairs

4. political organization

---

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• polities
  plural

Etymology

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, -ite ¹) + -ia -ia

Explanation

The noun polity refers to a political group of any size or shape — it can be a government, a state, a country, or even a social group. When you hear the word polity, think politics and you're on the right track. The prefix for polity dates all the way back to Greece, from the word politeia, which means "citizenship" or "government." Any group run by politics can be called a polity. The Democratic Party is a polity, but hopefully your birthday party isn't.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

polity polities

Sports, at its finest, can act as a cultural common denominator for our ever-fractious and divided polity.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 27, 2026

With the chorus representing the voice of the polity eliminated, in essence Mr. Icke has transformed the play into a more intimate if no less fraught family tragedy.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 14, 2025

"I think taking into account the circumstances and the compulsions of a coalition polity, I have done as best as I could do under the circumstances."

From BBC ● Dec. 27, 2024

The essay’s endurance is born out of the way Washington transformed his farewell into a reminder of civility, dignity, humility, and polity.

From Slate ● Jul. 22, 2024

This Ptolemaic Egypt is an exquisite corpse, a dead polity that is somehow still ambulatory, only waiting for a stake to be put through its heart by the legions of Augustus.

From "Circumference" by Nicholas Nicastro

This particular form of instability—in which electoral outcomes haven’t caught up with voters’ frustrations—has long plagued polities on the Continent, where proportional voting systems accelerate the fracturing of authority in parliaments.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 16, 2026

Washington, having spurned a crown himself, recognized the siren song that could bewitch even ostensibly democratic leaders, particularly in polities where checks on power are easily subverted.

From Slate ● Feb. 17, 2025

From the nature of our highly diverse pre-contact society of small, autonomous polities to the destructive forces of successive colonial regimes, California Indians’ distinct history is often incompatible with federal acknowledgment criteria.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 15, 2024

In these half-historical soap operas, the heroes are decisive, brave, glorious, but the polities they lead are fragile, teetering, menaced by outsiders.

From New York Times ● May 25, 2023

At any one time a few larger polities dominated the dozens or scores of small chiefdoms.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann