republic

noun

re·​pub·​lic ri-ˈpə-blik 

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 (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 Soviet Union, or Yugoslavia

Did you know?

Is the United States a democracy or a republic?

One of the most commonly encountered questions about the word democracy has nothing to do with its spelling or pronunciation, and isn’t even directly related to the meaning of the word itself. That question is “is the United States a democracy or a republic?” The answer to this, as with so many other questions about meaning, may be phrased as some form of “it depends.”

Some people assert that a country calling itself a democracy must be engaged in direct (or pure) democracy, in which the people of a state or region vote directly for policies, rather than elect representatives who make choices on their behalf. People who follow this line of reasoning hold that the United States is more properly described as a republic, using the following definition of that word: "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."

However, both democracy and republic have more than a single meaning, and one of the definitions we provide for democracy closely resembles the definition of republic given above: "a government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections."

So if someone asks you if the United States is a democracy or a republic, you may safely answer the question with either “both” or “it depends.”

Synonyms

• democracy
• self-government
• self-rule

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

The twist was that all of the songs came from the Ukraine and the Soviet Union between the Seventies and the Nineties, when the former was a republic of the latter. —David Browne, Rolling Stone, 19 Aug. 2024

There has remained only one constant in the 247 years of the American republic. —Emily Hallas, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 18 Aug. 2024

The experience reflects the reparations the first Black republic in the West was forced to pay to France after the Haitian Revolution in exchange for independence, which burdened subsequent generations with incomprehensible amounts of debt. —Osayi Endolyn, Condé Nast Traveler, 13 Aug. 2024

That's the hallmark of America's constitutional republic is that everybody's vote has to count. —Laura Schulte, Journal Sentinel, 8 Aug. 2024

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(1)

Phrases Containing republic

• banana republic

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