DictionaryAI

republic

noun
ri-PUB-lik/ɹɪˈpʌb.lɪk/

Pluralrepublics

3 meanings of republic

Practice

  1. 1
    no kingnouncountable
    A state in which power rests with the people or their elected representatives rather than with a monarch or emperor.

    After the last emperor abdicated, the country was reorganized as a republic.

    Newly independent republics across the region replaced colonial governors with elected presidents.

    Similardemocracy, commonwealth

    Oppositemonarchy

    Note

    Latin gave English the idea in two words: rēs pūblica, "the public thing." The state is the business of everyone rather than the property of one ruler. Today the word is defined mostly by what it is not, with a republic on one side and a constitutional monarchy on the other. L. E. Landon's Francesca Carrara (1834) already saw its charm for the young in a career that seems open to all.

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 5 facts

    • English republic ultimately derives from Latin rēs pūblica, literally meaning "the public thing." en.wiktionary.org
    • The Latin expression conveys something belonging to the public collectively. en.wikipedia.org
    • Letitia Elizabeth Landon wrote Francesca Carrara. en.wikisource.org
    • Francesca Carrara was first published in 1834. en.wikisource.org
    • The narrator describes the apparent attraction of a republic to young people, then warns that popular rule can also involve tyranny, caprice and subservience. Calling this praise overstates the passage's endorsement. en.wikisource.org
  2. 2
    nouncountable
    A self-governing territory forming one of the constituent units of a federal state, especially of the former Soviet Union or Yugoslavia, or of present-day Russia, often based on a particular ethnic or national group.

    Bashkortostan is a republic with its own constitution and elected head.

    Russia's republics differ from its oblasts in having a titular nationality.

    UsageCapitalized in official names, before or after the place: the Republic of Tatarstan, the Udmurt Republic.

    Note

    Here the word names a unit inside a federation, not a sovereign state, and it stands alongside other kinds of subdivision: the Udmurt Republic borders Perm Krai and Kirov Oblast. Readers who expect the independent-state sense should note that being a republic here confers no independence.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • Republics in this sense are constituent territories rather than independent sovereign states. en.wikipedia.org
    • The Udmurt Republic borders both Perm Krai and Kirov Oblast. russianunesco.mid.ru
    • Republic status within Russia does not confer independence. en.wikipedia.org
  3. 3
    nounarchaic
    A state in which the executive and legislative branches of government are kept separate, whether or not it is a monarchy.
    Note

    An older, structural meaning in which a crown is no obstacle: what made a state a republic was the separation of executive from legislative power. Immanuel Kant draws exactly this line in Perpetual Peace (1795). He sets republicanism against despotism, where one power both makes and executes the laws.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

    • In the older structural sense discussed here, monarchy is compatible with republican government. gutenberg.org
    • Kant defines republicanism through the separation of executive and legislative power. web.viu.ca
    • Immanuel Kant wrote Perpetual Peace, first published in 1795. e-rara.ch
    • Kant contrasts republicanism with despotism, in which the state executes laws it has itself made. gutenberg.org

Practice

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Origin

Latin rēspūblica joined rēs ("thing") and pūblica ("public"), so it literally meant "the public thing." English took the word from Middle French republique.