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Webster 1913 Edition

Republic

Re-pub′lic

(r?-p?b′l?k)
,
Noun.
[F.
république
, L.
respublica
commonwealth;
res
a thing, an affair +
publicus
,
publica
, public. See
Real
,
Adj.
, and
Public
.]
1.
Common weal.
[Obs.]
B. Jonson.
2.
A state in which the sovereign power resides in the whole body of the people, and is exercised by representatives elected by them; a commonwealth. Cf.
Democracy
, 2.
☞ In some ancient states called republics the sovereign power was exercised by an hereditary aristocracy or a privileged few, constituting a government now distinctively called an aristocracy. In some there was a division of authority between an aristocracy and the whole body of the people except slaves. No existing republic recognizes an exclusive privilege of any class to govern, or tolerates the institution of slavery.
Republic of letters
,
The collective body of literary or learned men.

Webster 1828 Edition

Republic

REPUB'LIC

,
Noun.
[L. respublica; res and publica; public affairs.]
1.
A commonwealth; a state in which the exercise of the sovereign power is lodged in representatives elected by the people. In modern usage, it differs from a democracy or democratic state, in which the people exercise the powers of sovereignty in person. Yet the democracies of Greece are often called republics.
2.
Common interest; the public. [Not in use.]
Republic of letters, the collective body of learned men.

Definition 2024

Republic

Republic

See also: republic

English

Noun

Republic

  1. Alternative letter-case form of republic, used in proper names of nations.
    the French Republic
    vowed to uphold the traditions of the Republic

republic

republic

See also: Republic

English

Alternative forms

Noun

republic ‎(plural republics)

  1. A state where sovereignty rests with the people or their representatives, rather than with a monarch or emperor; a country with no monarchy.
    The United States is a republic; the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a constitutional monarchy.‎
    • 1915, Emerson Hough, The Purchase Price, chapterI:
      “[…] We are engaged in a great work, a treatise on our river fortifications, perhaps ? But since when did army officers afford the luxury of amanuenses in this simple republic ? […] ”
  2. (archaic) A state, which may or may not be a monarchy, in which the executive and legislative branches of government are separate.
    • 1795, Immanuel Kant, Perpetual Peace: A Philosophical Sketch
      Republicanism is the political principle of the separation of the executive power (the administration) from the legislative; despotism is that of the autonomous execution by the state of laws which it has itself decreed. […] Therefore, we can say: the smaller the personnel of the government (the smaller the number of rulers), the greater is their representation and the more nearly the constitution approaches to the possibility of republicanism; thus the constitution may be expected by gradual reform finally to raise itself to republicanism […]. None of the ancient so-called "republics" knew this system, and they all finally and inevitably degenerated into despotism under the sovereignty of one, which is the most bearable of all forms of despotism.
  3. One of the subdivisions constituting Russia. See oblast.
    The Republic of Udmurtia is west of the Permian Oblast.‎

Derived terms

Translations

See also

Etymology

From Middle French république ‎(“republic”), derived from Latin rēs publica ‎(“republic”), from rēs ‎(“thing”) + pūblica ‎(“public”); hence literally “the public thing”.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [ɹɪˈpʌblɪk]
  • Hyphenation: re‧pub‧lic

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