public
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈpʌblɪk/
ipa: /ˈpʊblɪk/
rhymes: -ʌblɪk
Forms: form: more public
form: most public
form: publick
form: publicke
form: publike
form: publique
Etymology: 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.
Senses: examples: text: VVith ſcoffes 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.
ref: 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, [Act I, scene vi], page 100, column 1:
text: [T]he Apoſtles preached as vvell vvhen they vvrote as vvhen they ſpake the Goſpell of Chriſt, and our vſuall publique reading of the vvord of God for the peoples inſtruction is preaching.
ref: 1597, Richard Hooker, “S. Pauls Writing is No More Preaching, then His Pen or his Hand is His Toong: Seeing They Cannot be the Same which Cannot be Made by the Same Instruments”, in J[ohn] S[penser], editor, Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie, […], 2nd edition, London: […] Will[iam] Stansby [for Matthew Lownes], published 1611, →OCLC, book V, page 222:
text: Thy [Jesus's] firſt publique miracle graceth a marriage; It is an ancient and laudable inſtitution, that the rites of matrimony ſhould not vvant a ſolemne celebration; VVhen are feaſts in ſeaſon, if not at the recouery of our loſt ribbe?
ref: 1620, Ios. Hall [i.e., Joseph Hall], “[Contemplations vpon the History of the New Testament. The Second Booke.] The Marriage in Cana.”, in Contemplations [vpon the Principal Passages of the Holy Story], […], volume V, London: […] E[dward] G[riffin] for Henry Fetherstone, →OCLC, page 452:
text: The Parliament alſo permitted General [George] Monck to ſend Mʳ [Thomas] Clarges his brother-in-law, accompanied vvith ſome Officers of the Army, to aſſure his Majeſty [Charles II of England] of the fidelity and obedience of the Army; vvhich had made publick and ſolemn proteſtations thereof, after the Letter and Declaration vvas communicated unto them by the General.
ref: 1660, William Lower, transl., A Relation in Form of Journal, of the Voiage and Residence which the Most Excellent and Most Mighty Prince Charls the II King of Great Britain, &c. hath Made in Holland, from the 25 of May, to the 2 of June, 1660. […], The Hague: […] Adrian Vlack, →OCLC, page 4:
text: [O]ur last advices from Spain inform us, that the prince of Asturias had made his public entry into Madrid in great splendour.
ref: 1709 May 16 (Gregorian calendar), Isaac Bickerstaff [pseudonym; Richard Steele et al.], “Thursday, May 5, 1709”, in The Tatler, number 11; republished in [Richard Steele], editor, The Tatler, […], London stereotype edition, volume I, London: I. Walker and Co.; […], 1822, →OCLC, page 73:
text: Clear away! There was nothing they wouldn't have cleared away, or couldn't have cleared away, with old Fezziwig looking on. It was done in a minute. Every movable was packed off, as if it were dismissed from public life for evermore; the floor was swept and watered, the lamps were trimmed, fuel was heaped upon the fire; and the warehouse was as snug, and warm, and dry, and bright a ball-room, as you would desire to see upon a winter's night.
ref: 1843 December 19, Charles Dickens, “Stave Two. The First of the Three Spirits.”, in A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas, London: Chapman & Hall, […], →OCLC, pages 58–59:
text: Earlier this month [Tim] 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.
ref: 2011 April 18, Sandra Laville, “Paul Stephenson returns to desk at Metropolitan police”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 25 Oct 2023:
text: Seeing the British establishment struggle with the financial sector is like watching an alcoholic who still resists the idea that something drastic needs to happen for him to turn his life around. 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.
ref: 2013 June 19, Joris Luyendijk, “Our banks are not merely out of control. They’re beyond control [print version: Our banks are out of control, 28 June 2013]”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 3, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 31 Mar 2024, page 21:
glosses: Able to be known or seen by everyone; happening without concealment; open to general view.
examples: text: public library    public park
text: I ſavv her once / Hop forty Paces through the publicke ſtreete, […]
ref: c. 1606–1607 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Anthonie and Cleopatra”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ii], page 347, column 2:
text: There are some fields near Manchester, well known to the inhabitants as "Green Heys Fields," through which runs a public footpath to a little village about two miles distant.
ref: 1848, [Elizabeth Gaskell], chapter I, in Mary Barton: A Tale of Manchester Life. […] (Chapman and Hall’s Series of Original Works of Fiction, Biography, and General Literature), volume I, London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC, page 1:
text: Our late distinguished townsman, Noah Dow, Esquire, as is well known, bequeathed a large portion of his fortune to this establishment,—"being thereto moved," as his will expressed it, "by the desire of N. Dowing some publick Institution for the benefit of Mankind."
ref: 1861 January, “A Visit to the Asylum for Aged and Decayed Punsters”, in The Atlantic Monthly. A Magazine of Literature, Art, and Politics, volume VII, number XXXIX, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor and Fields, […]; London: Trübner and Company, →OCLC, page 114, column 1:
text: Then it occurred to me that I might be doing a rash thing in going off to an unknown house in a seedy suburb. So I went into a public telephone-booth, rang up the Club, and told the porter that if Colonel Arbuthnot called, I was at 4 Palmyra Square, N.W.—I made him write down the address—and would be back before ten o'clock.
ref: 1924 July, John Buchan, “The House in Gospel Oak”, in The Three Hostages, London: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC, page 85:
text: The couple had hoped to be married on the actual steps of the State House but State House police made it impossible. Leary claimed that the police had told him that he would be "arrested" if he crossed the street. "They had no right to say that," he said. "The stairway there is a public stairway."
ref: 1975 December 13, Gerrie Leary, quotee, “‘State House’ Couple Fail To Get License”, in Marion E[lizabeth] Tholander, editor, Gay Community News, volume 3, number 24, Boston, Mass.: GCN, Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 1, columns 2–3:
text: Officials say about 500 babies are abandoned each year in Western Cape province and that the number is increasing. Some are left for dead on rubbish tips, in refuge bags or at public toilets.
ref: 2011 May 10, David Smith, “South African ‘baby safe’ condemned by child welfare groups”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 16 May 2021:
text: 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.
ref: 2013 June 7, Jonathan Freedland, “Obama is like Apple, Google and Facebook: A once hip brand tainted by Prism [print version: Obama's once hip brand is now tainted, 14 June 2013]”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 1, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 31 Mar 2024, page 18:
glosses: 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.
topics: business
glosses: 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.
Of a company: having shares of stock traded publicly, for example, through a stock market.
examples: text: [S]tanding publick Records have been kept of theſe vvell atteſted Relations, and Epocha’s made of thoſe unvvonted events.
ref: 1667, J[oseph] G[lanvill], Some Philosophical Considerations Touching the Being of Witches and Witchcraft. […], London: […] E[llen] C[otes] for James Collins […], →OCLC, page 5:
text: [I]f the nominated be to a place vvherein he is entruſted vvith the management of public moneys, he that nominates is ſurety for him, and is to make good vvhat he defrauds the Common-vvealth of.
ref: 1673, John Ray, “Of Venice”, in Observations Topographical, Moral, & Physiological; Made in a Journey through part of the Low-countries, Germany, Italy, and France: […], London: […] John Martyn, printer to the Royal Society, […], →OCLC, page 163:
text: I Profeſs in the ſincerity of my Heart that I have not the leaſt perſonal Intereſt in endeavouring to promote this neceſſary VVorks having no other Motive than the publick Good of my Country, by advancing our Trade, providing for Infants, relieving the Poor, and giving ſome Pleaſure to the Rich.
ref: 1729, [Jonathan Swift], A Modest Proposal for Preventing the Children of Poor People from Being a Burthen to Their Parents, or the Country, and for Making Them Beneficial to the Publick, Dublin: […] S[arah] Harding, […], →OCLC, page 16:
text: I knew a brazen minister of state, / Who bore for twice ten years the publick hate. / In every mouth the question most in vogue / Was, When will they turn out this odious rogue?
ref: 1731 (date written), Jonathan Swift, “An Epistle to Mr. [John] Gay”, in Thomas Sheridan, John Nichols, editors, The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift, […], new edition, volume VIII, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], published 1801, →OCLC, page 118:
text: Money, being the instrument of an important public and private purpose, is rightly regarded as wealth; but everything else which serves any human purpose, and which nature does not afford gratuitously, is wealth also. […] Everything forms therefore a part of wealth, which has a power of purchasing; for which anything useful or agreeable would be given in exchange.
ref: 1848, John Stuart Mill, “Preliminary Remarks”, in Principles of Political Economy: With Some of Their Applications to Social Philosophy. […], volume I, London: John W[illiam] Parker, […], →OCLC, book I (Production), page 8:
text: 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.
ref: 2010 September 16, Adam Vaughan, “Public awareness of the biodiversity crisis is virtually non-existent”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 09 Dec 2023:
text: 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.
ref: 2013 May 6, George Monbiot, “Why the politics of envy are keenest among the very rich [print version: Money just makes the rich suffer, 17 May 2013]”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 23, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 16 Oct 2022, page 19:
glosses: Pertaining to the people as a whole, as opposed to a group of people; concerning the whole community or country.
examples: text: public housing    public officer    public prosecutor    public servant
text: Hee brought-in likevvise the ancient cuſtome againe, that in vvhat moneth hee had not the Knitches of rods vvith Axes borne before him, a publique Officer called Accensvs ſhould huiſher him before, and the Serjeants or Lictours follovv after behinde.
ref: 1606, Caius [i.e., Gaius] Suetonius Tranquillus, “The Historie of Caius Iulius Cesar Dictator”, in Philêmon Holland, transl., The Historie of Twelve Cæsars Emperours of Rome. […], London: […] [Humphrey Lownes and George Snowdon] for Matthew Lownes, →OCLC, section 20, page 8:
text: [T]hoſe vvho aſſiſt the Commonvvealth in a time of need vvith their eſtates, lending ſuch a ſum of mony as the Lavv determines, have liberty granted them to be preſent in this Council, and to underſtand the management of public affairs (yet vvithout povver of balloting) till ſuch time as their moneys be repaid, and ſometimes longer.
ref: 1673, John Ray, “Of Venice”, in Observations Topographical, Moral, & Physiological; Made in a Journey through part of the Low-countries, Germany, Italy, and France: […], London: […] John Martyn, printer to the Royal Society, […], →OCLC, page 170:
text: [P]oor Houſekeepers, vvho vvill be glad to accept of ſome private Benefactions, and yet, having lived creditably, till reduced by Misfortunes, are aſhamed to apply for publick Relief: […]
ref: 1742, [Samuel Richardson], “Letter X. From Miss Darnford to Her Father and Mother.”, in Pamela; Or, Virtue Rewarded. […], 3rd edition, volume IV, London: […] S[amuel] Richardson; and sold by J. Osborn, […]; and J[ohn] Rivington, […], →OCLC, pages 59–60:
text: It is vvonderful, Sir, vvith hovv little real ſuperiority of mind men can make an eminent figure in publick life.
ref: 1791, James Boswell, quoting Samuel Johnson, “[1783]”, in James Boswell, editor, The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D. […], volume II, London: […] Henry Baldwin, for Charles Dilly, […], →OCLC, page 440:
text: Eager to find material for stories, and bent on making them original in plot, if not masterly in execution, […] she excited the suspicions of public librarians by asking for works on poisons; […]
ref: 1869, Louisa M[ay] Alcott, “[A] Friend”, in Little Women: […], 2nd part, Boston, Mass.: Roberts Brothers, →OCLC, page 162:
text: 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.
ref: 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XLIV, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC, page 356:
text: But culture's total budget is a tiny proportion of all public spending; it is one of the government's most visible success stories.
ref: 2004 June 18, “Economic policy: For art's sake”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 22 Nov 2017:
glosses: Officially representing the community; carried out or funded by the government or state on behalf of the community, rather than by a private organization.
examples: text: public face    public image
text: The first that I lay my hands on, is a treatise concerning 'the empire of beauty,' and the effects it has had in all nations of the world, upon the public and private actions of men; […]
ref: 1709 May 14 (Gregorian calendar), Jenny Distaff [pseudonym; Richard Steele], “Tuesday, May 3, 1709”, in The Tatler, number 10; republished in [Richard Steele], editor, The Tatler, […], London stereotype edition, volume I, London: I. Walker and Co.; […], 1822, →OCLC, page 60:
text: The preacher […] who can say any thing new or striking, any thing that rouses the attention, without offending the taste, or wearing out the feelings of his hearers, is a man whom one could not (in his public capacity) honour enough.
ref: 1814 May 9, [Jane Austen], chapter III, in Mansfield Park: […], volume III, London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC, page 67:
glosses: 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.
qualifier: object-oriented programming
glosses: Of an object: accessible to the program in general, not only to a class or subclass.
examples: text: […] Nicodemus had not affirmed him [Jesus] to be a prophete, but ſayde: whoſoeuer he be, he ought not after our common, or rather publike law, (that is to ſaye, a lawe which indifferently perteyneth to all men of euery ſtate) to be condemned, except his cauſe be knowen before.
ref: 1549 February 10 (Gregorian calendar; indicated as 1548), Erasmus, “The Paraphrase of Erasmus vpon the Gospell of Sainct John. The .vij. Chapter.”, in Nicolas Udall [i.e., Nicholas Udall], transl., The First Tome or Volume of the Paraphrase of Erasmus vpon the Newe Testamente, London: […] Edwarde Whitchurche, →OCLC, folio lviii, recto:
text: [S]uch a one concerns himſelf very needleſsly for almoſt all the publique Quarrels in Chriſtendome, and ſhevvs himſelf zealous for a party vvhich vvill receive no advantage by his diſquiets; […]
ref: 1665, Robert Boyle, “Occasional Reflections. Discourse XVII. Upon Ones Talking to an Eccho.”, in Occasional Reflections upon Several Subiects. Whereto is Premis’d a Discourse about Such Kind of Thoughts, London: […] W. Wilson for Henry Herringman, […], →OCLC, section IV (Which Treats of Angling Improv’d to Spiritual Uses), page 117:
glosses: Pertaining to nations collectively, or to nations regarded as civilized; international, supernational.
examples: text: [T]he ſaid [Joseph] Palumbo vvas reſtrain'd to Saint Lorenzo; but being a popular man, and one knovvn to be a good Patriot, and of a publick ſoul, and a perſon of integrity; there vvere four thouſand of the beſt armed men joyn'd together, to vindicate and free the ſaid Palumbo, […]
ref: 1652, Alexander Giraffi [i.e., Alessandro Giraffi], “The Second Tumults Happened in the City of Naples, Held to be Hotter and Higher than the Former, which Succeeded the 7. of July”, in James Howell, transl., An Exact History of the Late Revolutions in Naples; […], revised edition, London: […] R[ichard] Lowndes […], published 1663, →OCLC, part II (The Second Part of Massaniello, […]), page 43:
text: Suppoſe I ſhou'd ſtrike firſt, vvou'd it not breed / Grief in your publick heart to ſee her bleed?
ref: 1664 January (first performance), Robert Howard; [John Dryden], “The Indian Queen, a Tragedy”, in Four New Plays, […], London: […] Henry Herringman, […], published 1665, →OCLC, Act IV, scene i, page 161:
text: As thus vve talk'd, / Our hearts vvould burn vvithin us, vvould inhale / That portion of divinity, that ray / Of pureſt heaven, vvhich lights the public ſoul / Of patriots, and of heroes.
ref: a. 1749 (date written), James Thomson, “Winter”, in The Seasons, London: […] A[ndrew] Millar, and sold by Thomas Cadell, […], published 1768, →OCLC, pages 185–186, lines 593–597:
text: Napoleon had been the first man of the world, if his ends had been purely public.
ref: 1850, R[alph] W[aldo] Emerson, “Napoleon; or, The Man of the World”, in Representative Men: Seven Lectures, Boston, Mass.: Phillips, Sampson and Company, […], →OCLC, pages 228–229:
glosses: Now chiefly in public spirit and public-spirited: seeking to further the best interests or well-being of the community or nation.
examples: text: I VVas not ſo publick here, as to be very vvell knovvn, at leaſt by any one that had Knovvledge of me in the Country vvhere I liv'd; and this vvas indeed my ſafety aftervvard, as you vvill ſoon hear; […]
ref: 1723, [Daniel Defoe], The History and Remarkable Life of the Truly Honourable Col. Jacque, Commonly Call’d Col. Jack, […], 2nd edition, London: […] J[ohn] Brotherton, […], →OCLC, page 340:
glosses: Now only in public figure: famous, prominent, well-known.
examples: text: I meruailled, why himſelf [Niccolò Leoniceno] did not practiſe Phiſike of whiche facultee he was a Doctour, and a publique reader: I auaile moche more, ſaieth he, in that I teach all thother Phiſiciãs [physicians].
ref: 1564 February, Erasmus, “The Saiynges of Socrates”, in Nicolas Udall [i.e., Nicholas Udall], transl., Apophthegmes, that is to Saie, Prompte, Quicke, Wittie and Sentẽcious Saiynges, […], London: […] Ihon Kingston, →OCLC, book I, folio 4, recto, paragraph 11:
topics: education
glosses: 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.
examples: text: In Iron Clouds conceal'd the Publick Light: / And Impious Mortals fear'd Eternal Night.
ref: 1697, Virgil, “The First Book of the Georgics”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 68, lines 639–640:
text: In the squares and places you see half-a-dozen of them together, sitting in a social circle on the bottoms of upturned baskets, knitting, talking, and enjoying the public sunshine, as if it were their own household fire.
ref: 1858 January 17 (date written), Nathaniel Hawthorne, “The Mediterranean Sea”, in Passages from the French and Italian Note-books of Nathaniel Hawthorne, volume I, London: Strahan & Co., […], published 1871, →OCLC, page 54:
glosses: Of or pertaining to the human race as a whole; common, universal.
examples: text: The firſt of his [Hernán Cortés's] diſpatches has never been made public. It vvas ſent from Vera-Cruz, July 16th, 1519.
ref: 1777, William Robertson, “Notes and Illustrations. Note I.”, in The History of America, volume II, London: […] W[illiam] Strahan; T[homas] Cadell, […]; Edinburgh: J[ohn] Balfour, →OCLC, page 441:
glosses: Chiefly in make public: of a work: printed or otherwise published.
Derived terms: certified public accountant
go public
initial public offering
in public
make a public spectacle of oneself
nobody ever went broke underestimating the good taste of the American public
nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public
nobody ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public
nonpublic
non-public
no one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public
no one ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public
notary public
online public access catalog
public access
public access television
public address system
public administration
publically
publican
public art
public assistance
public authorities
public authority
public body
public bookcase
public charge
public comment
public convenience
public credit
public curiosity
public debt
public defender
public diplomacy
public display of affection
public domain
public domainness
public enemy
public enemy number one
public eye
public figure
public finance
public Friend
public funds
public good
public health
public health funeral
Public Health System
public hearing
public-hearted
public historian
public history
public holiday
public hotel
public-house
public house
public housing
public image
public indecency
public information officer
public intellectual
public interest
public international law
public intoxication
public Ivy
public key
public key certificate
public-key cryptography
public key cryptography
public knowledge
public law
public leaning post
public library
public licence
public license
public life
public limited company
public limited liability company
publicly
publicly held
public-minded
publicness
public object objectum
public offering
public office
public officer
public opinion
public orator
public ownership
public place
public policy
public pretender
public-private partnership
public private partnership
public property
public purse
public record
public relations
public-relations
public rhetoric
public safety announcement
public-school
public school
public-sector
public sector
public servant
public service
public service announcement
public space
public speaker
public speaking
public spending
public sphere pedagogy
public spirit
public-spirited
public square
public telephone
public television
public toilet
public transit
public transport
public transportation
public trust
public trustee
public utility
public utility bus
public utility jeepney
public utility van
public utility vehicle
public walk
public woman
public works
unpublic
weal-public
Related terms: people
population
pub
publican
publication
publicise
publicize
publicist
publicity
publish
republic