republic
noun
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Definition of republic
1a(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 (such 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 (such 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 U.S.S.R., or Yugoslavia
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Examples of republic in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
People in this country have been speaking languages other than English since before the founding of the republic. — Harmeet Kaur, CNN, "FYI: English isn't the official language of the United States," 20 May 2018 Inside, my queasiness intensified, despite the high society touches that, of course, were unbecoming to a people’s republic. — Thomas Swick, Longreads, "Letters from Trenton," 5 July 2018 Ramzan Kadyrov, the strongman leader of the tiny republic in Russia’s North Caucasus, uses Islam to further his own interests, from rebuilding mosques in Syria to aggressively stamping out Islamist militancy at home. — Washington Post, "Forgiven by her native Chechnya, a woman is returned from Islamic State," 2 July 2018 The paper claims history dating decades before the founding of the American republic, and was owned for years by Philip Merrill, the former diplomat who served in Republican presidential administrations. — Emma Green, The Atlantic, "The Capital Gazette Won’t Stop Reporting," 29 June 2018 Soon after noon, the Communist Pyongyang radio said the North Korean government had declared war on this southern republic. — sandiegouniontribune.com, "June 25, 1950: North Korea declares war," 25 June 2018 Upon the breakup of the former Yugoslavia in 1991, Macedonia, one of the six constituent republics in the defunct federation, declared itself a new nation. — Brigit Katz, Smithsonian, "Why Macedonia’s Government Agreed to Change the Country’s Name," 13 June 2018 The republic's constitutional reform had spurred questions over whether there should be a similar change to the law in Northern Ireland. — Lauren Said-moorhouse, CNN, "UK court criticizes Northern Ireland abortion law but rejects bid for reform," 7 June 2018 From the archives, the republic's founding bar tab: - 54 bottles of Madeira wine. — The Washington Post, AL.com, "'The bender that began America': George Washington's boozy 1787 Constitution celebration," 22 Feb. 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'republic.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for republic
republic
noun
English Language Learners Definition of republic
: a country that is governed by elected representatives and by an elected leader (such as a president) rather than by a king or queen
See the full definition for republic in the English Language Learners Dictionary
republic
noun
\
Kids Definition of republic
: a country with elected representatives and an elected chief of state who is not a monarch and who is usually a president
republic
nounLegal Definition of republic
1 : a government having a chief of state who is not a monarch and who in modern times is usually a president also : a political unit (as a nation) having such a form of government
2 : 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 also : a political unit (as a nation) having such a form of government
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