Pulis

police; police-related; police officernoun / adjective depending on context

Pronunciation

POO-lis

Root and affixes

Loanword from police/policía. Common form: pulis. Related: kapulisan = police/police force; estasyon sa pulis = police station. For “police-related,” Cebuano often uses sa pulis or a phrase meaning related to the police.

Meaning and usage notes

Pulis can mean a police officer or the police as an institution. For “police-related” as an adjective, it is often expressed with a phrase: estasyon sa pulis = police station, imbestigasyon sa pulis = police investigation. Kapulisan works better for the police force collectively.