republic
noun
Francis BellamyMichael LindNote: In modern times, this sense is used in the names of various countries whose forms of government vary greatly and include dictatorships and totalitarian regimes.
see also banana republicMichel-Guillaume-Saint-Jean de CrèvecoeurElizabeth Fox-Genovese
Did you know?
Is the United States a democracy or a republic?
One of the most commonly encountered questions about the word democracy has nothing to do with its spelling or pronunciation, and isn’t even directly related to the meaning of the word itself. That question is “is the United States a democracy or a republic?” The answer to this, as with so many other questions about meaning, may be phrased as some form of “it depends.”
Some people assert that a country calling itself a democracy must be engaged in direct (or pure) democracy, in which the people of a state or region vote directly for policies, rather than elect representatives who make choices on their behalf. People who follow this line of reasoning hold that the United States is more properly described as a republic, using the following definition of that word: "a government in which supreme power resides in a body of citizens entitled to vote and is exercised by elected officers and representatives responsible to them and governing according to law."
However, both democracy and republic have more than a single meaning, and one of the definitions we provide for democracy closely resembles the definition of republic given above: "a government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections."
So if someone asks you if the United States is a democracy or a republic, you may safely answer the question with either “both” or “it depends.”
Examples of republic in a Sentence
Roger Valdez, Forbes, 7 Oct. 2024
Democrats were also disappointed that Walz didn’t seize every opportunity to attack J. D. Vance and Donald Trump as MAGA extremists threatening the republic.
—Matthew Continetti, National Review, 5 Oct. 2024
Even if Trump’s notable lack of coherence and energy are not indications of mental and physical decline, the fact remains that Vance is, based on Trump’s age alone, among the vice-presidential candidates most likely to be called upon to fulfill that role in the history of the republic.
—Mary McNamara, Los Angeles Times, 2 Oct. 2024
Content by this author: Antimonopoly Power From the early days of the republic, antimonopolism has been the key to the United States’ strategic vision.
—Foreign Affairs, 24 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for republic 
Dictionary Entries Near republic
Cite this Entry
“Republic.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/republic. Accessed 28 Nov. 2024.
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republic
noun
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