body politic
11
7.5
- noun
- /ˈbɑdi ˈpɒlɪtɪk/
- Formal
- The nation's youth should inject vitality into the body politic, and not, as it seemed to be doing, initiate its decline.
- American body politic
- national body politic
- Israeli body politic
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Watch on YouTubeThis is the most outrageous assault on the body politic, on the American people in modern American history.
- This is the most outrageous assault on the body politic, on the American people in modern American history.
- And, and I think once this president is no longer in office, I think you're going to see his impact on the body politic fade.
- As such, I would say that the city and is and should be considered the body politic of Anthropocene if you will.
Examples
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What has risen up or broken down in our body politic that permits or demands these actions?
Academic text (1998) -
Maronite estrangement from the body politic is also indicated by their pronounced sense of helplessness.
Academic text (1999) -
Only with a common basis of belief could the body politic agree upon the national interest.
Academic text (1994) -
The life of the individual is a fit and worthy sacrifice so that the body politic may live.
Academic text (1991) -
We think, not as members of the body politic, but as farmers, as trade-union workers, as employers, as investors.
Academic text (1996) -
A government that seeks to limit its citizens' aesthetic development does a disservice to the body politic.
Academic text (1995) -
The body politic must unite to address the pressing issues facing our nation.
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In a democracy, the body politic plays a crucial role in shaping government policies.
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The body politic reflects the collective voice of the citizens in the decision-making process.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
Human beings in a group, for example in a country
∞
2.0
A large group of people who share the same culture and way of life
8
7.7
A country or area with its own government and laws
5
4.6
A country or state that has its own government and laws
2
6.6
A group of people who act together for a shared purpose
How United
Surface Forms
Morphology
body + politic
The meaning is directly compositional: 'body' as a collective group plus 'politic' meaning relating to governance yields 'the political body' (the people organized under a government). This construction is cross-linguistically common (e.g., French corps politique, Spanish cuerpo político) and so a B1 learner who knows both constituents can infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
Body politic comes from a simple picture: the word body was taken literally and politic meant 'the state', so a country was seen as one human body with rulers as the head and citizens as the hands and feet. That's why it means 'the people of a nation or society considered as a single organized group'.