POLICE, noun [Latin politia; Gr. city.] 1. The government of a city or town; the administration of the laws and regulations of a city or incorporated town or borough; as the police of London, of New York or Boston. The word is applied also to the government of all towns in New England which are made corporations by a general statute, for certain purposes. 2. The internal regulation and government of a kingdom or state. 3. The corporation or body of men governing a city. 4. In Scottish, the pleasure-ground about a gentleman's seat.
Source: Webster's 1828 American Dictionary ↗ · public-domain · returned verbatim, no AI