the.com/republic
a public thing where power is borrowed, never owned, and the receipt is your vote
means a form of government in which power rests with the people and their elected representatives rather than a monarch, with the head of state typically chosen rather than inheriting the role
from From Latin res publica, literally "the public thing" or "the affair of the people" — res (a thing, matter, affair) joined to publicus (of the people). The Romans used it for the commonwealth they shared in common, the business that belonged to everyone and no one. It reached English through French république, but the bones are pure Latin: government reframed not as a king's possession but as a thing held jointly.
- latin root
- From res publica, meaning the public affair
- rome first
- Romans ran one for nearly 500 years
- king-free
- By definition, no hereditary monarch allowed
- plato sold
- His Republic imagined philosophers as kings
- count high
- Most modern countries call themselves republics
weimar republic — german state 1919-1933 between monarchy and nazi dictatorship
irish republic — founded 1949, officially replaced the irish free state
french republic — current french state since 1870, through five constitutional iterations
banana republic — retail clothing company founded 1978, now gap subsidiary