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Definition of police - 7 dictionary results
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po⋅lice
[puh-lees] 
noun, verb, -liced, -lic⋅ing.–noun
| 1. | Also called police force. an organized civil force for maintaining order, preventing and detecting crime, and enforcing the laws. |
| 2. | (used with a plural verb ) members of such a force: Several police are patrolling the neighborhood. |
| 3. | the regulation and control of a community, esp. for the maintenance of public order, safety, health, morals, etc. |
| 4. | the department of the government concerned with this, esp. with the maintenance of order. |
| 5. | any body of people officially maintained or employed to keep order, enforce regulations, etc. |
| 6. | people who seek to regulate a specified activity, practice, etc.: the language police. |
| 7. | Military. (in the U.S. Army)
|
–verb (used with object)
| 8. | to regulate, control, or keep in order by or as if by means of police. |
| 9. | Military. to clean and keep clean (a camp, post, etc.) |
Origin:
1520–30; < MF: government, civil administration, police < LL polītia citizenship, government, for L polītīa; see polity
1520–30; < MF: government, civil administration, police < LL polītia citizenship, government, for L polītīa; see polity
Pronunciation note:
Many English words exemplify the original stress rule of Old English and other early Germanic languages, according to which all parts of speech except unprefixed verbs were stressed on the first syllable, and prefixed verbs were stressed on the syllable immediately following the prefix. Although the scope of this rule has been greatly restricted by the incorporation into English of loanwords that exhibit other stress patterns, the rule has always remained operative to some degree, and many loanwords have been conformed to it throughout the history of English. For South Midland and Midland U.S. speakers in particular, shifting the stress in borrowed nouns from a noninitial syllable to the first syllable is still an active process, yielding [poh-lees] for police and [dee-troit] for Detroit, as well as cement, cigar, guitar, insurance, umbrella, and idea said as [see-ment], [see-gahr], [git-ahr], [in-shoor-uhns], [uhm-brel-uh], and [ahy-deeuh ].
Many English words exemplify the original stress rule of Old English and other early Germanic languages, according to which all parts of speech except unprefixed verbs were stressed on the first syllable, and prefixed verbs were stressed on the syllable immediately following the prefix. Although the scope of this rule has been greatly restricted by the incorporation into English of loanwords that exhibit other stress patterns, the rule has always remained operative to some degree, and many loanwords have been conformed to it throughout the history of English. For South Midland and Midland U.S. speakers in particular, shifting the stress in borrowed nouns from a noninitial syllable to the first syllable is still an active process, yielding
[poh-lees] for police and [dee-troit] for Detroit, as well as cement, cigar, guitar, insurance, umbrella, and idea said as [see-ment], [see-gahr], [git-ahr], [in-shoor-uhns], [uhm-brel-uh], and [ahy-deeuh ].
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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|
Link To police
| po·lice (pə-lēs') n. pl. police
[French, from Old French policie, civil organization, from Late Latin polītīa, from Latin, the State, from Greek polīteia, from polītēs, citizen, from polis, city; see pelə-3 in Indo-European roots.] po·lice'a·ble adj., po·lic'er n. |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Police
Po*lice"\, n. [F., fr. L. politia the condition of a state, government, administration, Gr. ?, fr. ? to be a citizen, to govern or administer a state, fr. ? citizen, fr. ? city; akin to Skr. pur, puri. Cf. Policy polity, Polity.]1. A judicial and executive system, for the government of a city, town, or district, for the preservation of rights, order, cleanliness, health, etc., and for the enforcement of the laws and prevention of crime; the administration of the laws and regulations of a city, incorporated town, or borough. 2. That which concerns the order of the community; the internal regulation of a state. 3. The organized body of civil officers in a city, town, or district, whose particular duties are the preservation of good order, the prevention and detection of crime, and the enforcement of the laws. 4. (Mil.) Military police, the body of soldiers detailed to preserve civil order and attend to sanitary arrangements in a camp or garrison. 5. The cleaning of a camp or garrison, or the state ? a camp as to cleanliness. Police commissioner, a civil officer, usually one of a board, commissioned to regulate and control the appointment, duties, and discipline of the police. Police constable, or Police officer, a policeman. Police court, a minor court to try persons brought before it by the police. Police inspector, an officer of police ranking next below a superintendent. Police jury, a body of officers who collectively exercise jurisdiction in certain cases of police, as levying taxes, etc.; -- so called in Louisiana. --Bouvier. Police justice, or Police magistrate, a judge of a police court. Police offenses (Law), minor offenses against the order of the community, of which a police court may have final jurisdiction. Police station, the headquarters of the police, or of a section of them; the place where the police assemble for orders, and to which they take arrested persons.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : police
Spanish:
policía,
German:
die Polizei; Polizei-…,
Japanese:
警察
police
c.1530, at first essentially the same word as policy (1); from M.Fr. police (1477), from L. politia "civil administration," from Gk. polis "city" (see policy (1)). Still used in Eng. for "civil administration" until mid-19c.; application to "administration of public order" (1716) is from Fr., and originally referred to France or other foreign nations. The first force so-named in Eng. was the Marine Police, set up 1798 to protect merchandise at the Port of London. The verb "to keep order by means of police" is from 1841; policeman is from 1829. Police state "state regulated by means of national police" first recorded 1865, with ref. to Austria.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Main Entry: po·lice
Function: transitive verb
Inflected Forms: po·liced; po·lic·ing
: to control, regulate, or keep in order esp. as an official duty <police the area>
Main Entry: police
Function: noun
Inflected Form: plural police
1 : the control and regulation of affairs affecting the order and welfare of a political unit and its citizens
2 a : the department of a government or other institution that maintains order and safety and enforces laws b : POLICE FORCE c plural : the members of a police force
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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