Etymology

police state

Today it means: A political entity, usually a state, whose government exercises strict and repressive control of its people. Full definition →

German Polizeistaat
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The story

  1. German · calque ofPolizeistaat
  2. English todaypolice state

Likely a calque of German Polizeistaat adopted following the Carlsbad Decrees of 1819 and the ensuing Demagogenverfolgungen, culminating in the crackdown of liberal and anarchical movements popular in the 1840s during the German revolutions of 1848–1849. Equivalent to police + state.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.