republic

noun

re·​pub·​lic ri-ˈpə-blik 

plural republics

1

a

: a form of government in which the power belongs to a body of citizens entitled to vote and is exercised by the leaders and representatives elected by those citizens to govern according to law compare democracy sense 1b

b

often Republic plural Republics : a country, state, or territory having a republican (see republican entry 2 sense 2a) government

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands …

—Francis Bellamy

The United States, which the eighteenth-century American elite sought to refashion as a new Roman Republic …

—Michael Lind

also : a usually specified government of such a country, state, or territory

the French Fourth Republic

c

: a country, state, or territory that is headed by someone other than a hereditary monarch but whose citizens do not hold real power

the former Soviet republics

Note: In modern times, this sense is used in the names of various countries whose forms of government vary greatly and include dictatorships and totalitarian regimes.

see also banana republic

2

a

figurative : a community of beings thought to resemble a political republic especially by exhibiting a general equality among members

… a curious republic of industrious hornets …

—Michel-Guillaume-Saint-Jean de Crèvecoeur

b

: a group of people freely engaged in a specified activity

a republic of scholars

[Zora Neale] Hurston makes explicit two contradictory and submerged elements of that tradition: First, and most visibly, she restores funkiness and folk roots to black women's discourse; second, and no less important, she dares to articulate black women's craving for independent recognition in the republic of letters. [=the people who read and write literature]

—Elizabeth Fox-Genovese

Did you know?

Is the United States a democracy or a republic?

The United States is both a democracy and a republic, as both terms refer to forms of government in which supreme power resides in the citizens. The word __republic_ refers specifically to a government in which those citizens elect representatives who govern according to the law. The word democracy can refer to this same kind of representational government, also called a representative democracy, or it can refer instead to what is also called a direct democracy, in which the citizens themselves participate in the act of governing directly by voting for all laws, policies, decisions, etc.

Synonyms of republic

• democracy

Examples of republic in a Sentence

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.”

Recent Examples on the Web

Although North Korea officially describes itself as a socialist republic governed by the Korean Workers’ Party (KWP), the Kim family has exercised supreme authority over the country’s political, military, and ideological institutions. — Ethan Teekah, Encyclopedia Britannica, 6 Aug. 2026

The tiny coral limestone atoll was colonized by Germany and later administered by Australia before becoming an independent republic in 1968. — Charlotte Graham-McLay, Los Angeles Times, 3 Aug. 2026

She’s seen this show before, in the 1980s, back in Slovenia, her home republic then within the socialist federation of Yugoslavia, as nationalism relentlessly championed differences over commonality and force over dialogue. — Matt Thompson, SPIN, 31 July 2026

The strikes mark the kingdom’s first announced foray into the fighting but Reuters, citing unnamed Western and Iranian officials, has previously reported that Saudi Arabia launched covert strikes on the Islamic republic. — Michael Loria, USA Today, 29 July 2026

Word History

Etymology

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

1596, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing republic

• banana republic

Rhymes for republic

• nonpublic
• public
• semipublic

Kids Definition

republic

noun

re·​pub·​lic ri-ˈpəb-lik 

1

: a government having a chief of state who is not a monarch and who is usually a president

2

: a government in which supreme power belongs to the citizens through their right to vote

3

: a political unit having a republican form of government

4

: a political and territorial unit of the former nations of the U.S.S.R., Czechoslovakia, or Yugoslavia

Etymology

from French république "republic," derived from Latin respublica "republic, public matters, commonweal," literally "public things," from res "thing, matter" and publica, a feminine form of publicus "relating to the people as a whole, public" — related to public, real, rebus

Legal Definition

republic

noun

re·​pub·​lic

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