republic
pronunciation
How to pronounce republic in British English:
UK [rɪˈpʌblɪk]
How to pronounce republic in American English:
US [rɪˈpʌblɪk]
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- Noun:
- a political system in which the supreme power lies in a body of citizens who can elect people to represent them
- a form of government whose head of state is not a monarch
Word Origin
- republic
- republic: [17] Latin rēspublica meant literally a ‘public matter’. It was a compound noun formed from rēs ‘thing, matter’ (source of English real) and publicus ‘public’ (source of English public). It was used as a term for the ‘state’ as governed by its people, and it was first taken over in English in the sense ‘state governed by elected representatives of the people, rather than by a king’ in the first decade of the 17th century.=> public, real
- republic (n.)
- c. 1600, "state in which supreme power rests in the people via elected representatives," from Middle French république (15c.), from Latin respublica (ablative republica) "the common weal, a commonwealth, state, republic," literally res publica "public interest, the state," from res "affair, matter, thing" + publica, fem. of publicus "public" (see public (adj.)). Republic of letters attested from 1702.
Antonym
Example
- 1. Inflation is not yet a threat to the republic .
- 2. And not just because the country is a republic .
- 3. Hamilton 's new financial system helped transform the young republic from a basket-case into an economic powerhouse .
- 4. Poland is a democratic republic .
- 5. This is not a people 's republic .