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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

policy.

A principle of behaviour, conduct which an entity (government, organization, etc.) applies or seeks to follow, especially as formally expressed by an authoritative body.

6 characters3 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈpɒl.ə.si/Received-Pronunciation/ˈpɒl.ɪ.si/Received-Pronunciation/ˈpɑ.lə.si/General-American, dialectal/ˈpɑl.si/General-American, dialectal
  1. A principle of behaviour, conduct which an entity (government, organization, etc.) applies or seeks to follow, especially as formally expressed by an authoritative body.

    countable · uncountable
    The Communist Party has a policy of returning power to the workers.
    It's company policy that all mobile phones are forbidden in meetings.
  2. A document describing such a policy.

    countable · uncountable
    Please print extra copies of this policy and post them where it will be easy for everyone to see.
  3. Wise, advantageous, or politic conduct; prudence, formerly also with connotations of craftiness.

    countable · uncountable
  4. Specifically, political shrewdness or (formerly) cunning; statecraft.

    archaic · countable · uncountable
  5. The grounds of a large country house.

    Scotland · countable · in-plural · uncountable
  6. The art of governance; political science.

    countable · obsolete · uncountable
  7. A state; a polity.

    countable · obsolete · uncountable
  8. A set political system; civil administration.

    countable · obsolete · uncountable
  9. A trick; a stratagem.

    countable · obsolete · uncountable
  10. Motive; object; inducement.

    countable · obsolete · uncountable
Where this word comes from

From Middle English policie, from Old French policie, pollicie and police, from Late Latin politia (“citizenship; government”), classical Latin polītīa (in Cicero), from Ancient Greek πολιτεία (politeía, “citizenship; polis, (city) state; government”), from πολίτης (polítēs, “citizen”). Doublet of police, polis (“police”), and polity.

verb/ˈpɒl.ə.si/Received-Pronunciation/ˈpɒl.ɪ.si/Received-Pronunciation/ˈpɑ.lə.si/General-American, dialectal/ˈpɑl.si/General-American, dialectal
  1. To regulate by laws; to reduce to order.

    transitive
Where this word comes from

From Middle English policie, from Old French policie, pollicie and police, from Late Latin politia (“citizenship; government”), classical Latin polītīa (in Cicero), from Ancient Greek πολιτεία (politeía, “citizenship; polis, (city) state; government”), from πολίτης (polítēs, “citizen”). Doublet of police, polis (“police”), and polity.

noun/ˈpɒl.ə.si/Received-Pronunciation/ˈpɒl.ɪ.si/Received-Pronunciation/ˈpɑ.lə.si/General-American, dialectal/ˈpɑl.si/General-American, dialectal
  1. A contract of insurance.

  2. A document containing or certifying this contract.

    Your insurance policy covers fire and theft only.
  3. An illegal daily lottery in late nineteenth and early twentieth century USA on numbers drawn from a lottery wheel (no plural)

    obsolete
  4. A number pool lottery

Where this word comes from

From Middle French police, from Italian polizza, from Medieval Latin apodissa (“receipt for money”), from Ancient Greek ἀπόδειξις (apódeixis, “proof, declaration”). Doublet of apodixis.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.