Synonyms
Examples of policy in a Sentence
Gabrielle Lamarr Lemee, Los Angeles Times, 11 Apr. 2024
The department did not provide details on the policy violation.
—Miguel Torres, The Arizona Republic, 11 Apr. 2024
Wu Qing, who turns 59 this month, also recently joined the People’s Bank of China’s monetary policy committee.
—Bloomberg, Fortune Asia, 11 Apr. 2024
The president has argued that further improvement would be possible if Republicans in Congress would back his policies.
—Democrat-Gazette Staff From Wire Reports, arkansasonline.com, 11 Apr. 2024
Inspired by the iconic live-action sitcom of the 1970s, the new show’s use of the beloved title conjures notions of familial fabric and community cohesion, amid challenges of generational poverty and stifling social policies that perpetuate inequitable caste conditions.
—Kyle Bowser, The Hollywood Reporter, 11 Apr. 2024
Firms with more centralized human resources departments and policies also exhibited less racial bias, which Kline says may indicate that a standardized hiring workflow involving multiple employees could help reduce discrimination.
—Joe Hernandez, NPR, 11 Apr. 2024
The policy meeting at the bank’s skyscraper headquarters in Frankfurt is widely regarded as a prelude to a likely rate cut at the next meeting on June 6, after Lagarde dropped a broad hint by saying that the bank would have more information on the path of inflation at that meeting.
—David McHugh, Fortune Europe, 11 Apr. 2024
Musk's philanthropic endeavors have the potential to follow a similar trajectory, driving impactful change through strategic investments in policy advocacy.
—Michael Sheldrick, Forbes, 30 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'policy.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Noun (1)
Middle English policie, pollecye "art or practice of government, system of government, commonwealth, organization or conduct of affairs, practical skill, prudence," borrowed from Anglo-French policie, pollecie "governance, system of government" (Middle French also, "a political organization, the state, conduct, behavior"), borrowed from Late Latin polītīa "citizenship, political organization, government" — more at police entry 1
Note: The term is a doublet of police entry 1; see note at that entry.
Noun (2)
earlier police, pollecy (in the phrase police/pollecy of assurance, after French pollice d'assurance), borrowed from Middle French police, pollice "certificate, written proof," probably borrowed from Italian polizza, pollizza "receipt, promissory note," alteration of apodissa, appodissa (by absorption of initial a- by the definite article and shift of -d- to a lateral), borrowed from Medieval Latin apodixa, apodissa "receipt," borrowed from Middle Greek apódeixis, going back to Greek, "making known, proof," from apodeik-, stem of apodeíknymi, apodeiknýnai "to point out, make known, prove" + -sis -sis — more at apodictic
Note: The English variant with -cy is presumably assimilation to policy entry 1, ending in a familiar suffix; it appears to have displaced police at an early date. — Middle French police has also been taken as a loan from Old Occitan polissia, itself borrowed from Italian, or directly from Medieval Latin or Greek; the editors of Trésor de la langue française reject this on grounds of the location of the earliest citations. The shift of a dental to a lateral in (apodissa > polizza) is perhaps best explained as direct borrowing into Italian from vernacular Greek, where the dental would have been a voiced interdental fricative; as Italian lacked this sound, it was transferred as an -l- (compare the etymology of pilot entry 1). This alters somewhat the path of transmission in the etymology above, perhaps removing Medieval Latin as an intermediary.
Noun (1)
15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a
Noun (2)
1565, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Phrases Containing policy
Dictionary Entries Near policy
Cite this Entry
“Policy.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/policy. Accessed 18 Apr. 2024.
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Kids Definition
policy
1 of 2 noun
policy
2 of 2 noun
Legal Definition
policy
1 of 2 noun
policy
2 of 2 noun
More from Merriam-Webster on policy
Nglish: Translation of policy for Spanish Speakers
Britannica English: Translation of policy for Arabic Speakers
Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about policy
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