English

Etymology

From Greek πολις,city

Noun

police collective noun

1. An organisation granted authority to enforce the law.

Usage note

• Formerly a singular noun, police is now almost always used as a collective noun with a plural verb, as in "Run, the police are coming!"

Derived terms

• chief of police
• police box
• police captain
• police car
• police chief
• police commissioner
• police constable
• police department
• police detective
• police dog
• police force
• police headquarters
• police lieutenant
• policeman
• police officer
• police precinct
• police record
• police sergeant
• police squad
• police state
• police station
• police van
• police wagon
• policewoman

Translations

• Bulgarian: полиция
• Chinese: 警察 (jingcha)
• Danish: politi
• Dutch: politie m
• Estonian: politsei
• Finnish: poliisi
• French: police f
• German: Polizei f
• Hebrew: משטרה f
• Italian: polizia f
• Japanese: 警察 (けいさつ)
• Norwegian: politi m
• Polish: policja
• Swedish: polis c
• Vietnamese: cảnh sát

Transitive verb

to police (policing, policed, policed)

1. To enforce the law and keep order among (a group).

See also

• Wikipedia article on police

French

Noun

police f

1. police
2. (typography) fount, font

Usage note

• Police is a singular noun in French, taking the singular form of a verb, as in "Fuyez, la police arrive!" ("Run, the police are coming!")

Related terms

• policier