republic

re·pub·lic

noun \ri-ˈpə-blik\

Definition of REPUBLIC

1

a (1) : a government having a chief of state who is not a monarch and who in modern times is usually a president (2) : a political unit (as a nation) having such a form of government

b (1) : a government in which supreme power resides in a body of citizens entitled to vote and is exercised by elected officers and representatives responsible to them and governing according to law (2) : a political unit (as a nation) having such a form of government

c : a usually specified republican government of a political unit <the French Fourth Republic>

2

: a body of persons freely engaged in a specified activity <the republic of letters>

3

: a constituent political and territorial unit of the former nations of Czechoslovakia, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, or Yugoslavia

Examples of REPUBLIC

1. <when asked by a passerby what sort of government the constitutional convention had formulated for the new nation, Benjamin Franklin memorably replied, “A republic, if you can keep it”>

Origin of REPUBLIC

French république, from Middle French republique, from Latin respublica, from res thing, wealth + publica, feminine of publicus public — more at real, public

First Known Use: 1604

Related to REPUBLIC

Synonyms

democracy, self-government, self-rule

Related Words

pure democracy; home rule, self-determination; autonomy, sovereignty (also sovranty)

Near Antonyms

despotism, dictatorship, monarchy, monocracy, totalitarianism, tyranny

Other Government and Politics Terms

agent provocateur, agitprop, autarky, cabal, egalitarianism, federalism, hegemony, plenipotentiary, popular sovereignty, socialism

Rhymes with REPUBLIC

go public, make public

republic

noun    (Concise Encyclopedia)

Form of government in which a state is ruled by representatives elected by its populace. The term was originally applied to a form of government in which the leader is periodically appointed under a constitution; it was contrasted with governments in which leadership is hereditary. A republic may also be distinguished from direct democracy, though modern representative democracies are by and large republics.