policy

== English == === Pronunciation === (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈpɒl.ə.si/, /ˈpɒl.ɪ.si/ (General American, dialects of Canada) IPA(key): /ˈpɑ.lə.si/, /ˈpɑl.si/ (Canada, dialects of the US) IPA(key): /ˈpɒl.ə.si/ (General Australian) IPA(key): /ˈpɔl.ə.si/ (New Zealand) IPA(key): /ˈpɒl.ə.si/, /ˈpɔ̟l.ə.si/ === Etymology 1 === 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 ==== policy (countable and uncountable, plural policies) A principle of behaviour, conduct which an entity (government, organization, etc.) applies or seeks to follow, especially as formally expressed by an authoritative body. [from 15th c.] A document describing such a policy. Wise, advantageous, or politic conduct; prudence, formerly also with connotations of craftiness. [from 15th c.] (now rare) Specifically, political shrewdness or (formerly) cunning; statecraft. [from 15th c.] (Scotland, now chiefly in the plural) The grounds of a large country house. [from 18th c.] 1775, Samuel Johnson, A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland section on Aberbrothick Now and then about a gentleman’s house stands a small plantation, which in Scotch is called a policy, but of these there are few, and those few all very young. (obsolete) The art of governance; political science. [14th–18th c.] (obsolete) A state; a polity. [14th–16th c.] (obsolete) A set political system; civil administration. [15th–19th c.] (obsolete) A trick; a stratagem. [15th–19th c.] (obsolete) Motive; object; inducement. ===== Derived terms ===== ===== Descendants ===== → Burmese: ပေါ်လစီ (paula.ci) ===== Translations ===== ==== Verb ==== policy (third-person singular simple present policies, present participle policying, simple past and past participle policied) (transitive) To regulate by laws; to reduce to order. === Etymology 2 === From Middle French police, from Italian polizza, from Medieval Latin apodissa (“receipt for money”), from Ancient Greek ἀπόδειξις (apódeixis, “proof, declaration”). Doublet of apodixis. ==== Noun ==== policy (plural policies) (law) A contract of insurance. A document containing or certifying this contract. (obsolete) An illegal daily lottery in late nineteenth and early twentieth century USA on numbers drawn from a lottery wheel (no plural) A number pool lottery ===== Synonyms ===== (number pool) policy racket ===== Derived terms ===== policyholder ===== Translations ===== === Further reading === policy on Wikipedia.Wikipedia “policy”, in OneLook Dictionary Search. William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin Eli Smith, editors (1895–1910), “policy”, in The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia: […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC. policy in Britannica Dictionary policy in Macmillan Collocations Dictionary policy in Sentence collocations by Cambridge Dictionary policy in Ozdic collocation dictionary policy in WordReference English Collocations