polizia
police
noun poh-lee-TSEE-ah Common
Origin: Latin politia (civil administration), from Greek politeia
Usage Note
Polizia is a feminine singular collective noun — it is treated as singular even though it refers to a force of many officers: la polizia è arrivata ('the police have arrived'). The individual officer is il poliziotto (m) or la poliziotta (f). Chiamare la polizia is 'to call the police'.
Examples
"La polizia ha arrestato il ladro."
Natural Translation
The police arrested the thief.
Related Words
Explore Italian by topic
ItalianNow
5 min read
ItalianNow
5 min read