Police in Different Languages
Discover 'Police' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Updated on March 6, 2024
The word 'police' holds immense significance in societies worldwide, serving as the backbone of law and order. Its cultural importance is undeniable, with police forces playing a crucial role in maintaining peace and ensuring safety in communities. But have you ever wondered how the word 'police' translates in different languages? Understanding these translations can provide fascinating insights into cultural perspectives on law enforcement.
For instance, in Spanish, 'police' translates to 'policía,' while in French, it's 'police.' In German, it's 'Polizei,' and in Italian, 'polizia.' These translations not only help in cross-cultural communication but also offer a glimpse into the historical contexts of law enforcement in different countries.
So, whether you're a language enthusiast, a traveler seeking cultural insights, or someone with a fascination for the world's police forces, this list of 'police' translations in various languages is sure to intrigue you.
Police
Police in Sub-Saharan African Languages
| Afrikaans | polisie | ||
| The word 'polisie' in Afrikaans is a false cognate of the English word 'policy,' instead deriving from the French word 'police,' meaning 'order' or 'public safety.' | |||
| Amharic | ፖሊስ | ||
| The word “ፖሊስ” also has the alternate meaning “a small village.” | |||
| Hausa | 'yan sanda | ||
| 'Yan sanda' literally translates to 'those who hold sticks,' referring to the traditional canes carried by law enforcement officers in pre-colonial Hausa society. | |||
| Igbo | ndị uwe ojii | ||
| 'Ndị uwe ojii', which literally means 'people with black clothing' in Igbo, is an apt term for the police as a symbol of authority. | |||
| Malagasy | polisy | ||
| Polisy, or 'Police', in Malagasy, also means politics in the sense of the conduct of government affairs; the management and control of public affairs (Merina dictionary). | |||
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | apolisi | ||
| The word "apolisi" is derived from the English word "police". | |||
| Shona | mapurisa | ||
| Mapurisa, the Shona word for police, refers to a force raised from a body of warriors. | |||
| Somali | booliska | ||
| Booliska, the Somali word for police, is derived from the Italian word "polizia," which was itself borrowed from ancient Greek. | |||
| Sesotho | mapolesa | ||
| Mapolesa, the Sesotho word for police, derives from the word 'mapolesa,' meaning 'to keep order'. | |||
| Swahili | polisi | ||
| Polisi derives from the Greek word 'polis' meaning city or state. | |||
| Xhosa | mapolisa | ||
| The word 'Mapolisa' in Xhosa is derived from the Zulu word 'Omaphoyisa', which means 'those who watch over' or 'peacekeepers'. | |||
| Yoruba | olopa | ||
| In Yoruba mythology, olopa was believed to be a nocturnal deity who punished evildoers. | |||
| Zulu | amaphoyisa | ||
| The Zulu word "amaphoyisa" is derived from the verb "ukubopha," meaning "to catch" or "to arrest" | |||
| Bambara | polisi | ||
| Ewe | kpovitɔ | ||
| Kinyarwanda | abapolisi | ||
| Lingala | polisi | ||
| Luganda | poliisi | ||
| Sepedi | maphodisa | ||
| Twi (Akan) | polisi | ||
Police in North African & Middle Eastern Languages
| Arabic | شرطة | ||
| In Arabic, "شرطة" (shirtah) also means a "line" or a "mark," likely due to the parallel lines worn on police uniforms. | |||
| Hebrew | מִשׁטָרָה | ||
| The Hebrew word מִשׁטָרָה (police) is also related to מִשׁטָר (administration), מִשׁטֶרֶת (watch, guard) | |||
| Pashto | پولیس | ||
| The Pashto word “پولیس” (“police”) is borrowed from the Greek word “πόλις” (“city”), likely adopted via the Persian or Arabic intermediate languages. | |||
| Arabic | شرطة | ||
| In Arabic, "شرطة" (shirtah) also means a "line" or a "mark," likely due to the parallel lines worn on police uniforms. | |||
Police in Western European Languages
| Albanian | policia | ||
| In Albanian, "policia" can also refer to the "militia" or "armed forces". | |||
| Basque | polizia | ||
| The Basque word 'polizia' is not a native word but a loanword from Spanish, which in turn originated from the Ancient Greek word 'politeia'. | |||
| Catalan | policia | ||
| The Catalan word "policia" comes from the Greek "politeia," meaning "citizenship" or "civil government." | |||
| Croatian | policija | ||
| The word 'policija' is derived from the Greek word 'politeia', meaning 'city-state' or 'citizenship'. | |||
| Danish | politi | ||
| "Politi" is derived from the Greek word "politeia", meaning "citizenship" or "body of citizens", and was originally used to refer to the citizens' militia in charge of maintaining order in medieval Denmark. | |||
| Dutch | politie | ||
| Politie (Dutch for "police") derives from the Greek word "politeia," meaning "citizenship" or "civil system." | |||
| English | police | ||
| The word «police» comes from the Greek word «politeia», meaning "citizenship" or "the duties of a citizen", and was originally used to refer to the entire body of citizens who were responsible for maintaining order and security in a community. | |||
| French | police | ||
| The word "police" in French can also refer to an insurance policy. | |||
| Frisian | plysje | ||
| The word "Plysje" in Frisian shares its etymology with the English word "plush", referring to a luxurious fabric, and may have originally described the fancy uniforms worn by police officers. | |||
| Galician | policía | ||
| In Galician, the word "policía" can also refer to the "city council" or a "civil guard" | |||
| German | polizei | ||
| The word Polizei comes from the Greek word politeia, meaning "citizenship" or "civil government." | |||
| Icelandic | lögreglu | ||
| Lögreglu' is derived from 'lög' meaning laws or rules and 'regla' meaning regulation, indicating their role in enforcing and regulating the execution of laws. | |||
| Irish | póilíní | ||
| Italian | polizia | ||
| The Italian word "polizia" derives from the Greek "politeia", meaning "citizenship" or "state". | |||
| Luxembourgish | police | ||
| Luxembourgish word "Police" also means "insurance policy". | |||
| Maltese | pulizija | ||
| The word 'pulizija' is derived from the Italian word 'polizia', which in turn comes from the Greek word 'politeia', meaning 'citizenship' or 'state'. | |||
| Norwegian | politiet | ||
| Politiet in Norwegian originates from the Greek word "politeia", meaning "citizenship" or "the body of citizens", and has come to mean "police" through its association with public order and the maintenance of societal norms. | |||
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | polícia | ||
| In Portuguese, the word "polícia" comes from the Greek "politeia", meaning "citizenship" or "organization of a city". | |||
| Scots Gaelic | poileas | ||
| "Poileas" shares a root with the Irish word "pobal" meaning "people". | |||
| Spanish | policía | ||
| The term "policía" in Spanish derives from the Greek word "polis," meaning "city," and the Latin suffix "-ia," indicating a state or quality. | |||
| Swedish | polis | ||
| In Swedish, "polis" can also refer to the Greek city-state, known as a "polis" in English. | |||
| Welsh | heddlu | ||
| The word 'heddlu' is also used to refer to the military in Welsh. | |||
Police in Eastern European Languages
| Belarusian | міліцыя | ||
| The word "міліцыя" in Belarusian originates from the Latin word "militia", meaning "military service". | |||
| Bosnian | policija | ||
| The word "policija" is similar to the word for "politics" in many Slavic languages, potentially due to their common Indo-European root. | |||
| Bulgarian | полиция | ||
| "Полиция" can also mean "insurance policy" in Bulgarian and originally comes from the Greek "πολιτεία" meaning "city-state" or "civil government". | |||
| Czech | policie | ||
| In Czech, "policie" also means "insurance policy" and derives from the French and Latin word for "city". | |||
| Estonian | politsei | ||
| The word "politsei" in Estonian has its origins in the Greek word "politeia," meaning "citizenship" or "city-state." | |||
| Finnish | poliisi | ||
| The word "poliisi" in Finnish derives from the Greek "polis", meaning "city-state", and originally referred to the local militia responsible for maintaining order in the city. | |||
| Hungarian | rendőrség | ||
| The etymology of 'rendőrség' is uncertain, but it may be derived from 'rend' (order) or 'rendez' (to arrange). | |||
| Latvian | policija | ||
| Latvian “policija” comes from Polish “policja”, which in turn comes from French “police”, which traces its roots to the Latin word “politia”, meaning governance or citizenship. | |||
| Lithuanian | policija | ||
| "Policija" is the borrowing from a Polish "policja", in its turn coming from French "police". | |||
| Macedonian | полицијата | ||
| Polish | policja | ||
| Etymologically, 'Policja' derives from the Greek word 'politeia', meaning 'citizenship', and the Latin 'politia', meaning 'government' or 'administration'. | |||
| Romanian | politie | ||
| In Romanian, "poliție" (police) derives from the Greek polis (city-state), denoting its role to maintain public order and enforce city laws. | |||
| Russian | полиция | ||
| The word "полиция" in Russian derives from the Greek word "politeia", meaning "citizenship" or "civil government". | |||
| Serbian | полиција | ||
| The word "полиција" comes from the Greek word "πολιτεία" (politeia), which originally meant "citizenship" or "the body of citizens" and later came to mean "the government" or "the police". | |||
| Slovak | polícia | ||
| The Slovak word "polícia" comes from the Latin word "politia" meaning "government" or "administration". | |||
| Slovenian | policijo | ||
| "Policijo" comes from the German word "Polizei," derived from the Latin "politia," meaning "civil government or administration." | |||
| Ukrainian | міліція | ||
| The word "міліція" (police) in Ukrainian comes from the Latin word "militia", meaning "military" or "citizen soldiery." | |||
Police in South Asian Languages
| Bengali | পুলিশ | ||
| The Bengali word "পুলিশ" ("police") is derived from the Persian word "پوليس" ("police"), which in turn originated from the Greek word "πόλις" ("city"). | |||
| Gujarati | પોલીસ | ||
| The Gujarati word "પોલીસ" is a borrowing of the English word "police", which is derived from the Greek word "polis" meaning 'city'. | |||
| Hindi | पुलिस | ||
| Derived from the Greek 'polis' meaning city, 'police' initially referred to the citizens of a city and their civic duties. | |||
| Kannada | ಪೊಲೀಸ್ | ||
| The word "ಪೊಲೀಸ್" in Kannada is derived from the French word "police", which in turn comes from the Greek word "politeia", meaning "citizenship" or "city-state". | |||
| Malayalam | പോലീസ് | ||
| The word "പോലീസ്" derives from the Greek word "polis," meaning "city," and was adopted into Malayalam to refer to the local police force. | |||
| Marathi | पोलिस | ||
| The word "पोलिस" is derived from the Greek word "πόλις" (polis), meaning "city-state" or "community". | |||
| Nepali | पुलिस | ||
| The word "पुलिस" is derived from the Greek word "politeia," meaning "citizenship" or "the affairs of the city." | |||
| Punjabi | ਪੁਲਿਸ | ||
| The Punjabi word "ਪੁਲਿਸ" is derived from the Persian word "polis" meaning "city". In ancient times, the "polis" was responsible for maintaining law and order in the city. | |||
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | පොලිසිය | ||
| පොලිසිය has a root meaning 'policy' and is cognate to "policy" in English and "police" in European languages. | |||
| Tamil | காவல் | ||
| Telugu | పోలీసులు | ||
| "పోలీసులు" (police) is derived from the Greek word "politeia," meaning "citizenship" or "city-state." | |||
| Urdu | پولیس | ||
| While in Urdu "پولیس" means "police," it derives from the Greek word "πόλις" (polis), meaning "city-state," and was originally used in Urdu to refer to "city guard." | |||
Police in East Asian Languages
| Chinese (Simplified) | 警察 | ||
| 警察 originated as a term for night watchmen in Song dynasty China, and its characters mean "to control" and "to see". | |||
| Chinese (Traditional) | 警察 | ||
| In Japanese, '警察' can also mean 'law enforcement officer'. | |||
| Japanese | 警察 | ||
| The word 警察 (keisatsu) is derived from the Chinese words 治安 (治安) and 警察 (警察), and can also mean "law enforcement" or "public security". | |||
| Korean | 경찰 | ||
| The word '경찰' (police) in Korean originates from the Chinese characters '警' meaning 'to warn' and '察' meaning 'to investigate'. | |||
| Mongolian | цагдаа | ||
| "Tsagdaa" derives from the Tibetan "tshak" meaning "troops" and is cognate with the Mandarin Chinese "jià" (家), meaning "family" or "clan". | |||
| Myanmar (Burmese) | ရဲ | ||
| The term | |||
Police in South East Asian Languages
| Indonesian | polisi | ||
| "Polisi" in Indonesian comes from the Sanskrit "pālisi" (guidance) and can also refer to policy or guidelines. | |||
| Javanese | pulisi | ||
| The Javanese word "pulisi" originally referred to a type of royal guard responsible for securing the ruler's palace and carrying out law enforcement duties within the court. | |||
| Khmer | ប៉ូលីស | ||
| The term 'police' in Khmer (ប៉ូលីស) originates from the French word 'police' and also refers to the police force in the country. | |||
| Lao | ຕຳ ຫຼວດ | ||
| "ຕຳຫຼວດ" originally meant city guards who guarded the walls surrounding Vientiane before it became the name for police officers. | |||
| Malay | polis | ||
| The word "polis" in Malay also refers to a city-state in ancient Greece, a political community, or a body of citizens. | |||
| Thai | ตำรวจ | ||
| The word "ตำรวจ" (police) in Thai originally meant "to oppress" or "to control" and was used to refer to officials who maintained order in the kingdom. | |||
| Vietnamese | cảnh sát | ||
| The word "cảnh sát" is derived from the Chinese word "jingcha", which means "to investigate and arrest". | |||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | pulis | ||
Police in Central Asian Languages
| Azerbaijani | polis | ||
| In Azerbaijani, | |||
| Kazakh | полиция | ||
| The Kazakh word for "police," "полиция," is derived from the Russian word "полиция," which in turn comes from the Greek word "πολιτεία," meaning "city-state". | |||
| Kyrgyz | полиция | ||
| "Полиция" in Kyrgyz means "government". In addition, it can also mean "order", "law", "authority", "jurisprudence", "regulation", "management". | |||
| Tajik | полис | ||
| In Tajik, the word for "police" is "милиция", while "полис" means "insurance policy". | |||
| Turkmen | polisiýa | ||
| Uzbek | politsiya | ||
| The word "politsiya" is derived from the Greek "politeia" meaning "city-state" and was originally used to refer to the city watch in ancient Greece. | |||
| Uyghur | ساقچىلار | ||
Police in Pacific Languages
| Hawaiian | mākaʻi | ||
| Mākaʻi in Hawaiian means "overseer" or "guardian," with overseers historically tasked with upholding kapu (laws). | |||
| Maori | pirihimana | ||
| Despite meaning 'police' in Maori, 'pirihimana' also refers to an ancient form of weaponry. | |||
| Samoan | leoleo | ||
| The word "leoleo" in Samoan derives from the phrase "le o le o", meaning "voice of the king". | |||
| Tagalog (Filipino) | pulis | ||
| In Tagalog, "pulis" originally meant "to watch over others" and is also closely related to "to awaken." | |||
Police in American Indigenous Languages
| Aymara | palla palla | ||
| Guarani | tahachi | ||
Police in International Languages
| Esperanto | polico | ||
| The Esperanto word "polico" is derived from the Greek word "polis", meaning "city-state". | |||
| Latin | magistratus | ||
| The Latin word "magistratus" also referred to Roman government officials and magistrates. | |||
Police in Others Languages
| Greek | αστυνομία | ||
| "Αστυνομία" (police) literally means "urban administration" and refers to the organization responsible for the enforcement of laws in urban areas. | |||
| Hmong | tub ceev xwm | ||
| The word 'tub ceev xwm' is derived from the Chinese word 'tub ceev', which means 'to protect', and the Hmong word 'xwm', which means 'people'. | |||
| Kurdish | pûlis | ||
| The word "pûlis" is derived from the Greek word "polis", meaning "city", and initially referred to the urban guard in the Ottoman Empire. | |||
| Turkish | polis | ||
| In Turkish, "polis" can also refer to the city-state in ancient Greece (polis). | |||
| Xhosa | mapolisa | ||
| The word 'Mapolisa' in Xhosa is derived from the Zulu word 'Omaphoyisa', which means 'those who watch over' or 'peacekeepers'. | |||
| Yiddish | פאליציי | ||
| The word 'פאליציי' comes from the German word 'Polizei', which itself is derived from the Greek word 'politeia', meaning 'citizenship' or 'city-state'. | |||
| Zulu | amaphoyisa | ||
| The Zulu word "amaphoyisa" is derived from the verb "ukubopha," meaning "to catch" or "to arrest" | |||
| Assamese | আৰক্ষী | ||
| Aymara | palla palla | ||
| Bhojpuri | पुलिस | ||
| Dhivehi | ޕޮލިސް | ||
| Dogri | पुलस | ||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | pulis | ||
| Guarani | tahachi | ||
| Ilocano | pulis | ||
| Krio | polis | ||
| Kurdish (Sorani) | پۆلیس | ||
| Maithili | पुलिस | ||
| Meiteilon (Manipuri) | ꯄꯨꯂꯤꯁ | ||
| Mizo | sipai | ||
| Oromo | poolisii | ||
| Odia (Oriya) | ପୋଲିସ | ||
| Quechua | policia | ||
| Sanskrit | आरक्षक | ||
| Tatar | полиция | ||
| Tigrinya | ፖሊስ | ||
| Tsonga | phorisa | ||