POLICY
policy
(noun) a plan of action adopted by an individual or social group; “it was a policy of retribution”; “a politician keeps changing his policies”
policy, insurance policy, insurance
(noun) written contract or certificate of insurance; “you should have read the small print on your policy”
policy
(noun) a line of argument rationalizing the course of action of a government; “they debated the policy or impolicy of the proposed legislation”
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology 1
Noun
policy (countable and uncountable, plural policies)
A principle of behaviour, conduct etc. thought to be desirable or necessary, especially as formally expressed by a government or other authoritative body. [from 15th c.]
Wise or advantageous conduct; prudence, formerly also with connotations of craftiness. [from 15th c.]
(now, rare) Specifically, political shrewdness or (formerly) cunning; statecraft. [from 15th c.]
(Scotland, now, chiefly, in the plural) The grounds of a large country house. [from 18th c.]
(obsolete) The art of governance; political science. [14th–18th c.]
(obsolete) A state; a polity. [14th–16th c.]
(obsolete) A set political system; civil administration. [15th–19th c.]
(obsolete) A trick; a stratagem. [15th–19th c.]
(obsolete) Motive; object; inducement.
Verb
policy (third-person singular simple present policies, present participle policying, simple past and past participle policied)
(transitive) To regulate by laws; to reduce to order.
Etymology 2
Noun
policy (plural policies)
(law)
A contract of insurance.
A document containing or certifying this contract.
(obsolete) An illegal daily lottery in late nineteenth and early twentieth century USA on numbers drawn from a lottery wheel (no plural)
A number pool lottery
Synonyms
• (number pool) policy racket
Source: Wiktionary
Pol"i*cy, n.; pl. Policies. Etym: [L. politia, Gr. police, Of.
police. See Police, n.]
1. Civil polity. [Obs.]
2. The settled method by which the government and affairs of a nation
are, or may be, administered; a system of public or official
administration, as designed to promote the external or internal
prosperity of a state.
3. The method by which any institution is administered; system of
management; course.
4. Management or administration based on temporal or material
interest, rather than on principles of equity or honor; hence,
worldly wisdom; dexterity of management; cunning; stratagem.
5. Prudence or wisdom in the management of public and private
affairs; wisdom; sagacity; wit.
The very policy of a hostess, finding his purse so far above his
clothes, did detect him. Fuller.
6. Motive; object; inducement. [Obs.]
What policy have you to bestow a benefit where it is counted an
injury Sir P. Sidney.
Syn.
– See Polity.
Pol"i*cy, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Policied; p. pr. & vb. n. Policying.]
Definition: To regulate by laws; to reduce to order. [Obs.] "Policying of
cities." Bacon.
Pol"i*cy, n. Etym: [F. police; cf. Pr. polissia, Sp. pĂłlizia, It.
pĂłlizza; of uncertain origin; cf. L. pollex thumb (as being used in
pressing the seal), in LL. also, seal; or cf. LL. politicum,
poleticum, polecticum, L. polyptychum, account book, register, fr.
Gr. apodixa a receipt.]
1. A ticket or warrant for money in the public funds.
2. The writing or instrument in which a contract of insurance is
embodied; an instrument in writing containing the terms and
conditions on which one party engages to indemnify another against
loss arising from certain hazards, perils, or risks to which his
person or property may be exposed. See Insurance.
3. A method of gambling by betting as to what numbers will be drawn
in a lottery; as, to play policy. Interest policy, a policy that
shows by its form that the assured has a real, substantial interest
in the matter insured.
– Open policy, one in which the value of the goods or property
insured is not mentioned.
– Policy book, a book to contain a record of insurance policies.
– Policy holder, one to whom an insurance policy has been granted.
– Policy shop, a gambling place where one may bet on the numbers
which will be drawn in lotteries.
– Valued policy, one in which the value of the goods, property, or
interest insured is specified.
– Wager policy, a policy that shows on the face of it that the
contract it embodies is a pretended insurance, founded on an ideal
risk, where the insured has no interest in anything insured.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition