pol·i·cy¹ (pŏl'ĭ-sē)
n., pl., -cies.

1. A plan or course of action, as of a government, political party, or business, intended to influence and determine decisions, actions, and other matters: American foreign policy; the company's personnel policy.
2. 1. A course of action, guiding principle, or procedure considered expedient, prudent, or advantageous: Honesty is the best policy.
   2. Prudence, shrewdness, or sagacity in practical matters.

[Middle English policie, art of government, civil organization, from Old French. See police.]

pol·i·cy² (pŏl'ĭ-sē)
n., pl., -cies.

1. A written contract or certificate of insurance.
2. A numbers game.

[Obsolete police, from French, contract, bill of lading, from Old French, from Old Italian polizza, alteration of Medieval Latin apodixa, receipt, from Medieval Greek apodeixis, from Greek, proof, from apodeiknunai, to prove : apo-, intensive pref.; see apo- + deiknunai, to show.]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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