Where does “policeman” come from?
Policeman is a compound of English police, from Latin politia, from Ancient Greek πόλις meaning city-state, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European ḱóm meaning together, combined with English man.
policeman (English): A member of a police force, especially one who is...
Definitions
- A member of a police force, especially one who is...
Ancestry of “policeman”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | police | A civil force granted the legal authority for law... |
| 2 | Middle French | police | governance; management |
| 3 | Latin | polītīa | state, government, administration |
| 4 | Ancient Greek | πολιτεία | the relation in which a citizen stands to the... |
| 5 | Ancient Greek | πολῑ́της | citizen |
| 6 | Ancient Greek | -της | Forms nouns representing a state of being; Added... |
| 7 | Proto-Hellenic | -tāts | — |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | -teh₂ts | Used to form nouns representing state of being |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | -teh₂ | Used to form nouns representing state of being |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | -tós | Creates verbal adjectives from verb stems |