# polity

Pronunciation: US say "PAH-luh-tee" /ˈpɑ.lə.ti/; UK say "POL-i-tee" /ˈpɒl.ɪ.ti/; AUS say "POL-uh-tee" /ˈpɔl.ə.ti/

## Noun

1. A politically organized community or group, such as a nation, the governing class within it, or the state it rules.
   - Simple: An organized group of people with its own government, like a country or state.
   - _The treaty bound several independent polities into a single federation._
   - _A modern polity must balance the demands of its citizens against outside pressures._
2. The organizational structure and system of governance of a body such as a state or a religion.
   - Simple: The way a state or church is organized and governed.
   - _Presbyterian polity places authority in elected assemblies rather than individual bishops._
   - _Scholars compared the polity of the early republic with that of the monarchy it replaced._

## Origin

This word came through Middle French politie from Latin politia, which in turn came from the Ancient Greek πολιτεία (politeía), meaning "polity, policy, the state." It is a doublet of policy and police.

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