Republic

Republic \ri-PUHB-lik\ , noun;
1. A state in which the supreme power rests in the body of citizens entitled to vote and is exercised by representatives chosen directly or indirectly by them
2. Any body of persons viewed as a commonwealth
3. A state in which the head of government is not a monarch or other hereditary head of state
4. Capitalized: Any of the five periods of republican government in France
5. Capitalized: A philosophical dialogue by Plato in the 4th century b.c. dealing with the composition and structure of the ideal state

This word dates to around 1600 as "state which supreme power rests in the people" from French république, which derived from Latin respublica, literally res publica ("public interstes, the state") from res + publica ("affair, matter, thing" + "public").