ប៉ូលិស
poulih
The English phrase "police" is translated into Khmer as ប៉ូលិស (poulih). Wiktionary also lists ប៉ូលីស (pouliih) and តម្រួត (tɑɑtɑmruət).
Meaning: local or general law enforcement agency (noun)
Ways to say it
| Khmer | Romanization (Wiktionary) |
|---|---|
| ប៉ូលិស | poulih |
| ប៉ូលីស | pouliih |
| តម្រួត | tɑɑtɑmruət |
| កុងអាន | kongʼaan |
| នគរបាល | nɔɔnɔkɔɔ baal |
The word refers to a local or general law enforcement agency.
Which one should you use?
ប៉ូលិស is a loanword from English and is commonly used in everyday conversation to refer to a police officer or the police force. In contrast, នគរបាល is the formal, official term used in government, news and legal contexts to refer to the police institution.
How do you pronounce it?
The romanization is poulih.
Did you know?
- The term កុងអាន is borrowed from the Vietnamese 'công an', which itself originates from the Chinese words for 'public security'.
- The term នគរបាល is derived from Pali and Sanskrit roots, which are typically used for high-status or religious concepts in Khmer.
Examples in context
- ខ្ញុំត្រូវហៅប៉ូលិស។khnhom trov hau polih.I need to call the police.
- តើប៉ូលិសនៅក្បែរនេះទេ?tae polih nov kbae nih te?Is there a police nearby?
- ប៉ូលិសកំពុងមកដល់ហើយ។polih kompong mok dol haey.The police are arriving now.
Example conversation
Two friends are talking about a traffic accident on the street.
- ចិន្តា Chindaតើអ្នកឃើញប៉ូលិសទេ?tae neak kheunh police te?Do you see the police?
- រតនៈ Ratanakបាទ ខ្ញុំឃើញពួកគេនៅខាងនោះ។bat, khnhom kheunh pouk ke nov khang nohYes, I see them over there.
- ចិន្តា Chindaតើរាយការណ៍ទៅប៉ូលិសហើយឬនៅ?tae reay ka tov police haey reu nov?Have you reported it to the police yet?
- រតនៈ Ratanakបាទ ខ្ញុំបានធ្វើរួចហើយ។bat, khnhom ban thveu ruoch haeyYes, I already did.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “police” translations and entries ប៉ូលិស, តម្រួត, កុងអាន, នគរបាល, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries កុងអាន, តម្រួត, ប៉ូលិស, CC BY-SA 4.0.
