Etymology

policeman

po·lice·man
P3O1L1I1C3E1M3A1N1

Today it means: A police officer, usually a male. Full definition →

Middle English man ← Old English mann ← Proto-West Germanic *mann
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*tpelH-
  2. Proto-Hellenic*ptólis
  3. Ancient Greekπόλις (pólis)
  4. Ancient Greekπολῑ́της (polī́tēs)
  5. Ancient Greekπολῑτείᾱ (polīteíā)
  6. Latinpolitia
  7. Middle Frenchpolice
  8. Englishpolice
  9. Proto-Indo-European*mon-
  10. Proto-Germanic*mann-
  11. Proto-West Germanic*mann
  12. Old Englishmann
  13. Middle Englishman
  14. English todaypoliceman

From police + -man.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.