polity

noun

pol·​i·​ty ˈpä-lə-tē 

plural polities

1

: political organization

2

: a specific form of political organization

3

: a politically organized unit

4

a

: the form or constitution of a politically organized unit

b

: the form of government of a religious denomination

Examples of polity in a Sentence

the polities of medieval Italy

Recent Examples on the Web

In this view, Kim was not only custodian of the American polity but its inheritor, alongside the nation’s Asian, Latino, and black populace—what the white revanchists yearning for, say, the 80 percent white America of 1980, might refer to as a Great Replacement. —Andrew Cockburn, Harper's Magazine, 22 Aug. 2024

Decades of neutrality pushed them to develop plans to mobilize in wartime and to build resilient economies and polities, whereas most of their neighbors relied on NATO membership to cover their security concerns. —Phillips P. O’Brien, Foreign Affairs, 6 Sep. 2024

Alexander Hamilton described long ago what the America polity would look like if Trump wins in November. —Kendra Stanton Lee, Newsweek, 9 July 2024

For such a fractured polity, this could be the last time there is such a choice. —Fintan O’Toole, Foreign Affairs, 5 July 2024

Word History

Etymology

probably borrowed from Late Latin polītīa "citizenship, political organization, constitution of a state, administrative direction," with ending conformed to -ity — more at police entry 1

First Known Use

1538, in the meaning defined at sense 1