public
See also: públic
English
Alternative forms
- publick, publicke, publike, publique (all obsolete)
Etymology
From Anglo-Norman publik, public, Middle French public, publique et al., and their source, Latin pūblicus (“pertaining to the people”). Compare people.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈpʌblɪk/
Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -ʌblɪk
- Hyphenation: pub‧lic
Adjective
public (comparative more public, superlative most public)
- Able to be seen or known by everyone; open to general view, happening without concealment. [from 14th c.]
- 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act I, scene vi], page 100, column 1:
- VVith ſcoffs and ſcornes, and contumelious taunts, / In open Market-place produc't they me, / To be a publique ſpectacle to all: / Here, ſayd they, is the Terror of the French, / The Scar-Crovv that affrights our Children ſo.
- 2011 April 18, Sandra Laville, The Guardian:
- Earlier this month Godwin had to make a public apology to the family of Daniel Morgan after the collapse of a £30m inquiry into his murder in 1987.
- 2013 June 28, Joris Luyendijk, “Our banks are out of control”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 3, page 21:
- Seeing the British establishment struggle with the financial sector is like watching an alcoholic […]. Until 2008 there was denial over what finance had become. When a series of bank failures made this impossible, there was widespread anger, leading to the public humiliation of symbolic figures.
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- Pertaining to the people as a whole (as opposed to a private group); concerning the whole country, community etc. [from 15th c.]
- 2010, Adam Vaughan, The Guardian, 16 Sep 2010:
- A mere 3% of the more than 1,000 people interviewed said they actually knew what the conference was about. It seems safe to say public awareness of the Convention on Biological Awareness in Nagoya - and its goal of safeguarding wildlife - is close to non-existent.
- 2013 May 17, George Monbiot, “Money just makes the rich suffer”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 23, page 19:
- In order to grant the rich these pleasures, the social contract is reconfigured. […] The public realm is privatised, the regulations restraining the ultra-wealthy and the companies they control are abandoned, and Edwardian levels of inequality are almost fetishised.
- 2010, Adam Vaughan, The Guardian, 16 Sep 2010:
- Officially representing the community; carried out or funded by the state on behalf of the community. [from 15th c.]
- 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XXII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, OCLC 4293071:
- From another point of view, it was a place without a soul. The well-to-do had hearts of stone; the rich were brutally bumptious; the Press, the Municipality, all the public men, were ridiculously, vaingloriously self-satisfied.
- 2004, The Guardian, Leader, 18 Jun 2004:
- But culture's total budget is a tiny proportion of all public spending; it is one of the government's most visible success stories.
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- Open to all members of a community; especially, provided by national or local authorities and supported by money from taxes. [from 15th c.]
- 2011, David Smith, The Guardian, 10 May 2011:
- Some are left for dead on rubbish tips, in refuge bags or at public toilets.
- 2013 June 14, Jonathan Freedland, “Obama's once hip brand is now tainted”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 1, page 18:
- Now we are liberal with our innermost secrets, spraying them into the public ether with a generosity our forebears could not have imagined. Where we once sent love letters in a sealed envelope, or stuck photographs of our children in a family album, now such private material is despatched to servers and clouds operated by people we don't know and will never meet.
- 2011, David Smith, The Guardian, 10 May 2011:
- (of a company) Traded publicly via a stock market.
- (not comparable, object-oriented programming) Accessible to the program in general, not only to the class or any subclasses.
Antonyms
- private
Derived terms
Terms derived from public (adjective)
- go public
- initial public offering
- in public
- public address system
- publically
- publican
- public assistance
- public body
- public domain
- public enemy
- public enemy number one
- public eye
- public figure
- public good
- public health
- Public Health System
- public holiday
- public house
- public intellectual
- public interest
- public intoxication
- public key
- public law
- public leaning post
- public library
- public limited liability company
- publicly held
- publicness
- public office
- public policy
- public-private partnership
- public property
- public school
- public servant
- public service
- public speaking
- public transportation
- public works
Related terms
Terms etymologically related to public
- people
- population
- pub
- publican
- publication
- publicise, publicize
- publicist
- publicity
- publicly
- publish
- republic
Translations
able to be seen by or known to everybody
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pertaining to people as a whole
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provided (by the government) for the community
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open to all members of a community
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publicly traded
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
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Noun
public (plural publics)
- The people in general, regardless of membership of any particular group.
- Members of the public may not proceed beyond this point.
- 1905, Baroness Emmuska Orczy, chapter 2, in The Tremarn Case:
- “Two or three months more went by ; the public were eagerly awaiting the arrival of this semi-exotic claimant to an English peerage, and sensations, surpassing those of the Tichbourne case, were looked forward to with palpitating interest. […] ”
- 2007 May 4, Martin Jacques, The Guardian
- Bush and Blair stand condemned by their own publics and face imminent political extinction.
- (public relations) A particular group or demographic to be targeted.
- 2005, Donald Treadwell, Jill B. Treadwell, Public Relations Writing: Principles in Practice (page 19)
- To the extent that you will use them to reach many other publics, the news media will also be one of your publics.
- 2005, Donald Treadwell, Jill B. Treadwell, Public Relations Writing: Principles in Practice (page 19)
- (archaic) A public house; an inn.
- 1824 June, [Walter Scott], Redgauntlet, […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co., OCLC 926803915:
- these inconsiderate lads will be out of the house, and away to the publics, wasting their precious time , and
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Derived terms
- antipublic
- general public
- Joe Public
- John Q. Public
- member of the public
- public relations
- public-spirited
Translations
people in general
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
|
References
- public at OneLook Dictionary Search
- public in Keywords for Today: A 21st Century Vocabulary, edited by The Keywords Project, Colin MacCabe, Holly Yanacek, 2018.
- public in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
- public in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911
French
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin pūblicus. The noun is from the adjective.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /py.blik/
audio (file) Audio (file) Audio (Belgium) (file)
Adjective
public (feminine publique, masculine plural publics, feminine plural publiques)
- public (various meanings)
- (relational) of the people as a whole; public [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.
- public; seen or known by everyone [from 1330]
- C'est une nouvelle qui est déjà publique. ― It's already public news.
- public; representing the state on behalf of the community [from 1390]
- Synonym: étatique
- pouvoirs publics ― public powers
- notaire public ― public notary
- public; open to all [from 1538]
- Synonym: commun
- lieu public ― public place
- fille publique ― streetwalker, prostitute (literally, “public girl”)
- (relational) of the people as a whole; public [from 1238]
Derived terms
- assistance publique
- bien public
- clé publique
- crieur public
- danger public
- deniers publics
- domaine public
- éclairage public
- être de notoriété publique
- fille publique
- jardin public
- ministère public
- offre publique d'achat
- opinion publique
- ordre public
- salubrité publique
- santé publique
- secteur public
Noun
public m (plural publics)
- public (people in general) [from 1320]
- 2015 October 3, Romain Gueugneau, “Le smartphone tout terrain s’aventure dans le grand public”, in LesEchos:
- Et la demande augmente dans le grand public.
- And the demand is increasing amongst the general public.
-
- audience [from 1671]
- Il devait plaire à son public. ― He had to please his audience.
- 2016, Claudine Monfette, Robert Charlebois, & Pierre Nadeau (lyrics and music), “Ordinaire”, in Encore un soir, performed by Céline Dion:
- Quand je chante, c'est pour le public
- When I sing, it's for the audience
Derived terms
- bon public
- en public
- grand public
- gros public
- laver son linge sale en public
Further reading
- “public”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Ladin
Adjective
public m pl
- plural of publich
Occitan
Etymology
From Latin publicus.
Pronunciation
Audio (file)
Adjective
public m (feminine singular publica, masculine plural publics, feminine plural publicas)
- public
- Antonym: privat
Derived terms
- publicament
Noun
public m (plural publics)
- public, audience
Old French
Alternative forms
- publik
- publiq
- publique
Adjective
public m (oblique and nominative feminine singular publique)
- 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)
- public
Declension
Declension of public
| singular | plural | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| masculine | neuter | feminine | masculine | neuter | feminine | ||
| nominative/ accusative | indefinite | public | publică | publici | publice | ||
| definite | publicul | publica | publicii | publicele | |||
| genitive/ dative | indefinite | public | publice | publici | publice | ||
| definite | publicului | publicei | publicilor | publicelor | |||
Noun
public n (plural publice)
- the public