Etymograph

English

politic

Politic comes from Latin polīticus ‘political, civil, of the state, relating to…’, from Ancient Greek πολιτικός ‘civic, constitutional, public’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *tpólHis.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*tpólHis1reconstructed
  2. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*ptólis1‘city’reconstructed
  3. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEπόλις2‘city’
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEπολίτης3polítēs‘citizen’
  5. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEπολιτικός3politikós‘civic, constitutional, public’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpolīticus3‘political, civil, of the state, relating to civil polity’
  7. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600politique3
  8. Englishearliest quotation a. 1587politic3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek πόλις
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek πολίτης
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English politic
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: a. 1587, Philippe Sidnei [i.e., (please specify the folio): “[H]e with his people made all but one politic…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*tpólHisWiktionary, Ancient Greek πόλιςreconstructed
  2. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*ptólisWiktionary, Ancient Greek πόλις‘city’reconstructed
  3. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEπόλιςWiktionary, Ancient Greek πολίτης‘city’
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEπολίτηςWiktionary, English politicpolítēs‘citizen’
  5. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEπολιτικόςWiktionary, English politicpolitikós‘civic, constitutional, public’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpolīticusWiktionary, English politic‘political, civil, of the state, relating to civil polity’
  7. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600politiqueWiktionary, English politic
  8. Englishearliest quotation a. 1587politicWiktionary, English politic. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: a. 1587, Philippe Sidnei [i.e., (please specify the folio): “[H]e with his people made all but one politic…”

Linked words

through Ancient Greek πόλις ‘city’

police, polis, 10 more

through Ancient Greek πολίτης ‘citizen’

policy, 2 more

Today it means

adj Of or relating to polity, or civil government; political.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “politic”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Ancient Greek πόλις, Ancient Greek πολίτης. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *tpólHis / politic

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