Origin of the Word "Police"

[mattoc66]

I know that when Sir Robert Peel first set up the modern police force in the early 19th century they were nicknamed "Bobbies or Peelers" after the great man but does anyone know where the word "Police" originated and why do we call the police "Cops or Coppers" ??

[heathfield]

Reputed to come from 'polita', the Latin word for 'civil administration'.

[shaneystar2]

Cops or Coppers ..according to Wikipedia
While commonly believed to be an acronym for Constable on Patrol, the term refers to "one who captures or snatches". This word first appeared in the early 18th century, and can be matched with the word "cap", which has the same meaning and whose etymology can be traced to the Latin word 'capere'
It is also believed that the term Copper was the original, unshortened word, representing the copper badges officers used to wear.

[dot.hawkes]

My great Great Granddad, William Twidle, was a Police Constable in Boston lincolnshire in the 1860s, he had started out as a ************* and was promoted to constable but he got pneumonia and died at 32, when my great grandmother was just 3. He had to pay for an extra cloak for his night duties and couldn't afford it and so kept being ill apparently.

[morbidstorm]

Also maybe something to do with the Ancient Greek city states, as each one was known as a Polis (City state), so a policeman is "man of the city" or its protector

[dot.hawkes]

why would night - / watch /---man be starred out? Oh i see it now.

[Octavius]

The word 'police' stems from the Greek word 'politeia' which itself stems from 'polis', meaning, state, administration, government. The equivalent Latin word was civitas, also meaning 'citizenhood'.

In Chaucer's Canterbury Tales we find the word 'policie' meaning organised government, civil administration. Later in about 1589 we find the French word 'policer' meaning to keep order. The first recorded use in English of 'police' in specific reference to those concerned with enforcing the law and maintaining public order is found in about 1730 in Scotland.

[Redheadthere]

i still dont get it. (bit slow...doh) why is ************* starred out????