Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Showing sound or pragmatic judgment; prudent; judicious.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Of or pertaining to politics, or the science of government; having to do with politics.
  • Of or pertaining to civil as distinguished from religious or military affairs; civil; political.
  • Hence Of or pertaining to officers of state; official; state.
  • That constitutes the state; consisting of citizens: as, the body politic (that is, the whole body of the people as constituting a state).
  • Existing by and for the state; popular; constitutional.
  • In keeping with policy; wise; prudent; fit; proper; expedient: applied to actions, measures, etc.
  • Characterized by worldly wisdom or craftiness; subtle; crafty; scheming; cunning; artful: applied to persons or their devices: as, a politic prince.
  • noun A politician.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun Archaic A politician.
  • adjective Of or pertaining to polity, or civil government; political. See under body.
  • adjective Pertaining to, or promoting, a policy, especially a national policy; well-devised; adapted to its end, whether right or wrong; -- said of things.
  • adjective Sagacious in promoting a policy; ingenious in devising and advancing a system of management; devoted to a scheme or system rather than to a principle; hence, in a good sense, wise; prudent; sagacious; and in a bad sense, artful; unscrupulous; cunning; -- said of persons.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Shrewd, prudent and expedient.
  • adjective Discreet and diplomatic.
  • adjective Artful, crafty or cunning.
  • noun archaic A politician.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective marked by artful prudence, expedience, and shrewdness
  • adjective smoothly agreeable and courteous with a degree of sophistication

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English politik, from Old French politique, from Latin polīticus, political, from Greek polītikos, from polītēs, citizen, from polis, city; see pelə- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Ancient Greek πολίτης (politēs, "citizen").

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