[pol-i-tiks] 
) | 1. | the science or art of political government. |
| 2. | the practice or profession of conducting political affairs. |
| 3. | political affairs: The advocated reforms have become embroiled in politics. |
| 4. | political methods or maneuvers: We could not approve of his politics in winning passage of the bill. |
| 5. | political principles or opinions: We avoided discussion of religion and politics. His politics are his own affair. |
| 6. | use of intrigue or strategy in obtaining any position of power or control, as in business, university, etc. |
| 7. | (initial capital letter, italics) a treatise (4th century b.c.) by Aristotle, dealing with the structure, organization, and administration of the state, esp. the city-state as known in ancient Greece. |
| 8. | play politics.
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| pol·i·tics (pŏl'ĭ-tĭks) n.
Usage Note: Politics, although plural in form, takes a singular verb when used to refer to the art or science of governing or to political science: Politics has been a concern of philosophers since Plato. But in its other senses politics can take either a singular or plural verb. Many other nouns that end in -ics behave similarly, and the user is advised to consult specific entries for precise information. |
"Politicks is the science of good sense, applied to public affairs, and, as those are forever changing, what is wisdom to-day would be folly and perhaps, ruin to-morrow. Politicks is not a science so properly as a business. It cannot have fixed principles, from which a wise man would never swerve, unless the inconstancy of men's view of interest and the capriciousness of the tempers could be fixed." [Fisher Ames (1758–1808)]Meaning "a person's political allegiances or opinions" is from 1769. Political animal transl. Gk. politikon zoon (Aristotle, Politics, I.ii.9) "an animal intended to live in a city; a social animal." Politically correct first attested 1970; abbreviation P.C. is from 1986.