# policy

Pronunciation: US say "PAH-luh-see" /ˈpɑləsi/; UK say "PO-luh-see" /ˈpɒləsi/

## Noun

1. A plan or set of principles that a government, organization, or person follows, or a document that sets it out.
   - Simple: A set of rules or a plan that a government, company, or person follows, or the paper that sets it out.
   - _City policy requires new construction to include bike parking._
   - _The airline tightened its refund policy after a wave of complaints._
2. A contract of insurance, or the document that sets out its terms.
   - Simple: An agreement with an insurance company, or the paper that shows it.
   - _Her life insurance policy names her two children as beneficiaries._
   - _The company canceled his policy after the third missed payment._
3. Wise, advantageous, or prudent conduct, in earlier use often with a suggestion of craftiness.
   - Simple: Smart, careful behavior that protects your own interests.
   - _He judged it policy to let the rumor fade rather than answer it._
   - _There was more policy than warmth in her sudden friendliness._
4. A lottery, usually illegal, in which people bet on which numbers will be drawn; popular in American cities in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
   - Simple: A game, usually illegal, in which people bet money on which numbers will be picked.
   - _Before state lotteries existed, many city workers played policy, betting a few cents a day on numbers drawn by an illegal operator._
   - _Her grandfather, who grew up in the city in the 1920s, remembered neighbors spending their last dimes on policy in the hope of a big win._
7. The enclosed grounds, gardens, and parkland that surround a large country house. *(dialectal, Scotland)*
   - Simple: The land, gardens, and parks around a big country house.
   - _The estate's policy was planted with avenues of beech in the eighteenth century._
   - _Visitors may wander the policies of the castle between dawn and dusk._

## Noun

5. The art of governance; the study of government and political affairs. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: The skill or study of how to govern a country.
6. Political shrewdness or cunning; skill in the practical art of statecraft. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: Clever skill in politics, especially in getting and keeping power.
8. A trick or stratagem; a cunning scheme devised to gain an advantage. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A clever trick or cunning plan used to gain an advantage.
9. An established political system; the civil administration of a state. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: The system of government and offices that runs a country.
10. A state or organized political community; a polity. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A country or community that has its own government.
11. A motive, aim, or inducement; the purpose behind an action. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A reason or goal that makes someone do something.

## Other meanings

- (verb) To regulate by laws; to bring or reduce to order.

## Origin

**Meanings 1, 3, 5–11** — It comes from Middle English policie, from Old French policie/police, from Late Latin politia meaning 'citizenship' or 'government', which came from classical Latin politia and ultimately from Ancient Greek politeía ('citizenship, city-state, government'), from polítēs ('citizen'). It is related to police and polity.
**Meanings 2, 4** — Ancient Greek apódeixis ('proof, declaration') gave Medieval Latin apodissa ('receipt for money'), then Italian polizza and Middle French police, the source of this word. It is a doublet of apodixis.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/policy (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).