Pol

How to spell pol

3 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce pol

What does pol mean?

1. nounAn informal term for a politician, especially a seasoned or professional one.

Pol in a sentence

• The veteran pol knew exactly how to work a room of donors.

• Every local pol promised lower taxes before the vote.

Where does pol come from?

Language of origin: Greek

This short, breezy word is a clipping of 'politician', an American coinage that first appeared in print in the early 1940s. 'Politician' itself reaches back through Latin to the Greek politikos, meaning 'of citizens' or 'relating to the affairs of the city', built on polis, the Greek word for 'city' or 'city-state'. The same polis root sits inside 'police', 'policy', 'metropolis', and 'cosmopolitan', all of which share the idea of organised civic life. Speakers and headline writers trimmed the long word down to a single snappy syllable, much as 'memorandum' became 'memo' and 'advertisement' became 'ad'. Because it is a clipping, the spelling simply keeps the first three letters of the parent word, which is why 'pol' has no silent letters or hidden traps.

How the word is built

• clipping of 'politician' (itself from Greek politikos, of citizens)