politics
pronunciation
How to pronounce politics in British English:
UK [ˈpɒlətɪks]
How to pronounce politics in American English:
US [ˈpɑːlətɪks]
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- Noun:
- social relations involving authority or power
- the study of government of states and other political units
- the profession devoted to governing and to political affairs
- the opinion you hold with respect to political questions
Word Origin
- politics
- politics: [16] Politics is etymologically the art of ‘civil administration’. It is an English rendering of Greek tà polītiká ‘affairs of state’. Greek polītikós ‘of the city or state, civil, political’ was a derivative of polítēs ‘citizen’, which in turn came from pólis ‘city, state’ (source also of English police and policy and related to Sanskrit pūr ‘stronghold, fortified place’). It passed into English via Latin polīticus and Old French politique as politic [15], which originally meant ‘political’ as well as ‘judicious’ (political was coined in the 16th century).=> cosmopolitan, metropolis, police, policy
- politics (n.)
- 1520s, "science of government," from politic (adj.), modeled on Aristotle's ta politika "affairs of state," the name of his book on governing and governments, which was in English mid-15c. as "Polettiques." Also see -ics.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.
Example
- 1. Also , I hate petty office politics .
- 2. Politics is partly to blame .
- 3. Occasionally he interfered in politics .
- 4. But politics can be cruel .
- 5. Politics has crept into encounters .