publicly

publicly

English

Alternative forms

• publically (fairly rare)
• publickly (obsolete)
• publictly (rare, Scotland, from code switching with Scots)
• publiquely (obsolete)

Etymology

From public +‎ -ly.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpʌblɪkli/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Adverb

publicly (comparative more publicly, superlative most publicly)

1. In public, openly, in an open and public manner.

   criticize someone publicly

   publicly announce something

2. By, for, or on behalf of the public.

   publicly available

Usage notes

• publicly is more than 25 times more common than publically.[1] Over the last 100 years, the relative frequency of publically has been increasing.[1] publically is covered in Merriam-Webster[2] and Collins[3]. publicly is unusual in so far as -ic adjectives usually form adverbs by adding –ally.[4]

Antonyms

• (openly): privately, secretly

Translations

in an open and public manner — See also translations at in public

Arabic: عَلَانِيَةً‎ (ʿalāniyatan), عَلَنًا‎ (ʿalanan) Bulgarian: открито (bg) (otkrito), публично (bg) (publično) Catalan: públicament (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: 公開地／公开地 (zh) (gōngkāi de) Cornish: yn poblek Czech: veřejně (cs) Finnish: julkisesti (fi) French: publiquement (fr) Galician: publicamente (gl) Irish: os ard Italian: pubblicamente (it) Kurdish: Central Kurdish: (please verify) بە ئاشکرا‎ (be aşkra) Latin: pūblicē (la), cōram Norman: publyiquement Occitan: publicament Old English: openlīċe Polish: publicznie (pl) Portuguese: publicamente (pt) Russian: обще́ственно (ru) (obščéstvenno), публи́чно (ru) (publíčno), при всех (pri vsex) Scottish Gaelic: gu poblach Spanish: públicamente (es) Swedish: publikt (sv) Tocharian B: eṅkaucar Ukrainian: публі́чно (publíčno)

References

1. publicly/publically at Google Ngram Viewer
2. “publically”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary
3. “publically”, in Collins English Dictionary.
4. Is there a case for 'publically'? Part 1 | Macmillan Dictionary Blog

Further reading

• publicly at OneLook Dictionary Search
• “publicly”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary

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Scots

Alternative forms

• publictly

Etymology

From Early Modern English publiquely.

Adverb

publicly (not comparable)

1. officially, in the presence of public representatives or on behalf the public
   • 1858, Alexander Crawford Lindsay, quoting Lord Edzell, Lives of the Lindsays‎, page 388:

     Albeit I have stayit here in Edinburgh ane year and three months bygane, craving ever to be tryit of the unhappy slaughter of my umquhile Lord of Spynie, whereof I protest before God and your Majesty I am maist innocent, my Lord of Crawford will neither call me (prosecute me) therefor, nor stay, baith privately and publicly, yea in face of your Majesty's honourable Privy Council, to calumniate me.

2. openly, in the presence of other people

References

• “publicly, adv.”, in The Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries, 2004–present, OCLC 57069714, 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.