Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “policewoman” come from?

Policewoman derives from English police, from Latin politia, from Ancient Greek πόλις meaning city-state, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European tpelH- meaning to spread or unfold.

policewoman (English): A female police officer

Definitions

  1. A female police officer

Ancestry of “policewoman”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishpoliceA civil force granted the legal authority for law...
2Middle Frenchpolicegovernance; management
3Latinpolītīa—
4Ancient Greekπολιτείαthe relation in which a citizen stands to the...
5Ancient Greekπολῑ́τηςcitizen
6Ancient Greek-τηςForms nouns representing a state of being; Added...
7Proto-Hellenic-tāts—
8Proto-Indo-European-teh₂tsUsed to form nouns representing state of being
9Proto-Indo-European-teh₂Used to form nouns representing state of being
10Proto-Indo-European-tósCreates verbal adjectives from verb stems
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -tós →