public

English Online Dictionary. What means public‎? What does public mean?

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /ˈpʌblɪk/
• (Ireland, Northern England) IPA^(key): /ˈpʊblɪk/
• Rhymes: -ʌblɪk
• Hyphenation: publ‧ic

Etymology 1

The adjective and noun are derived from Late Middle English publik, publike (“(adjective) generally observable, public; relating to the general public or public affairs; (noun) a generally observable place or situation”), from Anglo-Norman public, publik, publique, Middle French public, publique, and Old French public (“(adjective) generally observable, public; relating to the general public; official; (noun) community or its members collectively; nation, state; audience, spectators collectively”) (modern French public, publique (obsolete)); and from their etymon Latin pūblicus (“of or belonging to the community, people, or state; general, public”), an alteration of poplicus (influenced by pūbēs (“adult men; male population”)), from poplus (“community; the people, public; nation, state”) (later populus; from Proto-Italic *poplos (“army”); further origin uncertain, possibly from Etruscan or from Proto-Indo-European *pleh₁- (“to fill”)) + -icus (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’). Doublet of people.

The Middle English word displaced native Old English ceorlfolc and folclic.

The verb is derived from the adjective.

Adjective

public (comparative more public, superlative most public)

2. Able to be known or seen by everyone; happening without concealment; open to general view. [from 14th c.]
4. Open to all members of a community, as opposed to only a segment of it; especially, provided by national or local authorities and supported by money from taxes. [from 15th c.]

   public library    public park

   2. (business) Of a company: having shares of stock traded publicly, for example, through a stock market.
6. Pertaining to the people as a whole, as opposed to a group of people; concerning the whole community or country. [from 15th c.]
8. Officially representing the community; carried out or funded by the government or state on behalf of the community, rather than by a private organization. [from 15th c.]

   public housing    public officer    public prosecutor    public servant
9. Pertaining to a person in the capacity in which they deal with other people on a formal or official basis, as opposed to a personal or private capacity; official, professional.

   public face    public image
11. (not comparable, by extension, object-oriented programming) Of an object: accessible to the program in general, not only to a class or subclass.
12. (archaic)
    1. Pertaining to nations collectively, or to nations regarded as civilized; international, supernational.
    2. Now chiefly in public spirit and public-spirited: seeking to further the best interests or well-being of the community or nation.
    3. Now only in public figure: famous, prominent, well-known.
13. (UK, education, chiefly historical) In some older universities in the United Kingdom: open or pertaining to the whole university, as opposed to a constituent college or an individual staff member or student.
14. (obsolete)
    1. Of or pertaining to the human race as a whole; common, universal.
    2. Chiefly in make public: of a work: printed or otherwise published.

Alternative forms

• publick, publicke, publike, publique (all obsolete)

Antonyms

• nonpublic
• private
• unpublic

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Noun

public (countable and uncountable, plural publics)

2. (countable, uncountable) Chiefly preceded by the: members of the community or the people in general, regardless of membership of any particular group.
3. (countable)
   1. Preceded by a possessive determiner such as my, your, or their: a group of people who support a particular person, especially a performer, a writer, etc.; an audience, a following.

      Hyponyms: readership, viewership
   2. (informal) Short for public house (“an inn, a pub”); also (dated), in full public bar: the more basic bar in a public house, as contrasted with the lounge bar or saloon bar which has more comfortable seats, personalized service, etc.

      Synonyms: see Thesaurus:pub
   3. (often public relations) Often preceded by the and a qualifying word: a particular demographic or group of people, or segment of the population, sharing some common characteristic.

      the cinema-going public

      the reading public

      1. (sociology) A group of people sharing some common cultural, political, or social interest, but not necessarily having any interactions with each other.
   4. (obsolete)
      1. Chiefly preceded by the: a collective body of a politically organized nation or state; a body politic, a nation, a state; also, the interest or well-being of such a collective body; the common good.

         (well-being): Synonyms: (archaic or obsolete) commonweal, public interest, public good

      2. (US, university slang) At Harvard University: a penalty imposed on a student involving a grade reduction which is communicated to the student's parents or guardian.
4. (uncountable) Chiefly in in public: the presence of spectators or people generally; the open.

Alternative forms

• publick, publicke, publike, publique (all obsolete)

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

public (third-person singular simple present publics, present participle publicing, simple past and past participle publiced)

1. (transitive, originally Scotland, archaic) To make (something) openly or widely known; to publicize, to publish.

Translations

Etymology 2

Semantic loan from Russian па́блик (páblik) and Ukrainian па́блік (páblik, “public webpage on a blog or on social media”), both borrowed from English public: see etymology 1.

Noun

public (plural publics)

1. (non-native speakers' English, neologism) An internet publication.

References

Further reading

• public on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “public”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• “public”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “public, publict, publitt, v.”, in The Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries, 2004–present, →OCLC, reproduced from William A[lexander] Craigie, A[dam] J[ack] Aitken [et al.], editors, A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue: […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, 1931–2002, →OCLC.
• public in Keywords for Today: A 21st Century Vocabulary, edited by The Keywords Project, Colin MacCabe, Holly Yanacek, 2018.
• “public”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin pūblicus. The noun is from the adjective.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /py.blik/

Adjective

public (feminine publique, masculine plural publics, feminine plural publiques)

1. public
   1. (relational) of the people as a whole [from 1238]

      l’intérêt public ― the public interest

      le bien public ― the public good

      La voix publique est pour lui. ― The public voice is for him.

   2. seen or known by everyone [from 1330]

      C’est une nouvelle qui est déjà publique. ― It's already public news.

   3. representing the state on behalf of the community [from 1390]

      Synonym: étatique

      pouvoirs publics ― public powers

      notaire public ― public notary

      dépenses publiques ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)

   4. open to all [from 1538]

      Synonym: commun

      lieu public ― public place

      fille publique ― streetwalker, prostitute (literally, “public girl”)

Derived terms

Noun

public m (plural publics)

1. public (people in general) [from 1320]
2. audience [from 1671]

   Il devait plaire à son public. ― He had to please his audience.

Derived terms

Further reading

• “public”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Ladin

Adjective

public m pl

1. plural of publich

Occitan

Etymology

From Latin publicus.

Pronunciation

Adjective

public m (feminine singular publica, masculine plural publics, feminine plural publicas)

1. public

   Antonym: privat

Derived terms

• publicament

Noun

public m (plural publics)

1. public, audience

Old French

Alternative forms

• publik
• publiq
• publique

Adjective

public m (oblique and nominative feminine singular publique)

1. public (not private; available to the general populace)

Derived terms

• en public

References

• publik on the Anglo-Norman On-Line Hub

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French public, from Latin publicus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpu.blik/

Adjective

public m or n (feminine singular publică, masculine plural publici, feminine and neuter plural publice)

1. public

Declension

Noun

public n (plural publice)

1. the public