English
republic
Republic comes from Middle French republique, from Latin rēspūblica ‘commonwealth, the state’, from rēs ‘thing’ + pūblica ‘public’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErēspūblica1‘a republic, commonwealth’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600republique1
- Englishearliest quotation 1795republic1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English republic
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1795, Immanuel Kant: “Republicanism is the political principle of the separation of…”.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErēspūblicaWiktionary, English republic‘a republic, commonwealth’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600republiqueWiktionary, English republic
- Englishearliest quotation 1795republicWiktionary, English republic. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1795, Immanuel Kant: “Republicanism is the political principle of the separation of…”
A compound of rēs ‘thing, object, stuff’ + pūblica
Proto-Indo-European *(H)reh₁- ‘to give’
Proto-Indo-European *(H)reh₁ís ‘wealth, goods’
Proto-Italic *reis ‘thing, matter’
Latin rēs ‘thing, object, stuff’
Proto-Indo-European *pleh₁- ‘to fill’
Proto-Italic *plēō ‘to fill’
Proto-Italic *poplos ‘army’
Old Latin poplus
Old Latin poplicus
Latin pūblicus ‘of or belonging to the people, state, or community’
Latin pūblica
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Today it means
noun A state where sovereignty rests with the people or their representatives, rather than with a monarch or emperor; a country with no monarchy.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “republic”. 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 / Latin rēspūblica / republic