public
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈpʌblɪk/
ipa: /ˈpʊblɪk/
rhymes: -ʌblɪk
Forms: form: publics
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: Members of the public may not proceed beyond this point.
text: In ſũ [sum], you are a Prince, & a father of people, vvho ought vvith the eye of vviſdome, the hand of fortitude, and the hart of iuſtice to ſet dovvne all priuate conceits, in compariſon of vvhat for the publike is profitable.
ref: a. 1587, Philippe Sidnei [i.e., Philip Sidney], “[The Thirde Booke] Chapter 19”, in [Fulke Greville; Matthew Gwinne; John Florio], editors, The Countesse of Pembrokes Arcadia [The New Arcadia], London: […] [John Windet] for William Ponsonbie, published 1590, →OCLC, folio 325, recto:
english: The New Arcadia
translation: The New Arcadia
text: Here, you, the ſad reuengers / Of capitall crimes, againſt the Publicke, take / This man vnto your iuſtice: ſtrangle him.
ref: 1611, Ben[jamin] Jonson, Catiline His Conspiracy, London: […] [William Stansby?] for Walter Burre, →OCLC, Act V, signature O, verso:
text: [I]t is not only requiſite that the Prince knovv hovv to command vvell, but that the Subjects obey vvell; and that even vveak Counſels, faithfully aſſiſted, and as much as may be rectified or repaired by thoſe that are to Execute them, may leſs prejudice the publick, than the frovvard and jarring endeavours of Men, that perhaps vvould be vviſer Rulers if they had a right to be so.
ref: 1665, Robert Boyle, “Occasional Reflections. Discourse XI. Upon a Danger Springing from an Unseasonable Contest with the Steersman.”, 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 78:
text: And though the public be not ſo rich as it hath been, yet vvill it ſoon recover itſelf and grovv vvealthy again upon the enjoyment of Peace and free Commerce.
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 154:
text: [T]he only facts to be conſidered [in the crime of libel] are, firſt, the making or publiſhing of the book or vvriting; and ſecondly, vvhether the matter be criminal: and, if both theſe points are againſt the defendant, the offence againſt the public is complete.
ref: 1769, William Blackstone, “Of Offences against the Public Peace”, in Commentaries on the Laws of England, book IV (Of Public Wrongs), Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 151:
text: 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 Tichborne case, were looked forward to with palpitating interest.
ref: 1904–1905, Baroness Orczy [i.e., Emma Orczy], “The Tremarn Case”, in The Case of Miss Elliott, London: T[homas] Fisher Unwin, published 1905, →OCLC, section 2; republished as popular edition, London: Greening & Co., 1909, OCLC 11192831, quoted in The Case of Miss Elliott (ebook no. 2000141h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg of Australia, February 2020:
text: [George Walker] Bush and [Tony] Blair stand condemned by their own publics and face imminent political extinction.
ref: 2007 May 4, Martin Jacques, “Sarkozy plays the race card – and our establishment cheers”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 08 Aug 2022:
glosses: Chiefly preceded by the: members of the community or the people in general, regardless of membership of any particular group.
examples: text: By dint of drinking acid tiff, as above mentioned, and smoking segars, in which I am no novice, my Public are to be informed, that I gradually drank and smoked myself into a certain degree of acquaintance with un homme comme il faut [a decent man], one of the few fine old specimens of nobility who are still to be found in France; […]
ref: 1823, [Walter Scott], “Introduction”, in Quentin Durward. […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co., →OCLC, page xiii:
hyponyms: readership
viewership
glosses: 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.
examples: text: [T]hese inconsiderate lads will be out of the house, and away to the publicks, wasting their precious time, and, it may be, missing the morning tide.
ref: 1824 June, [Walter Scott], “Narrative of Alan Fairford, Continued”, in Redgauntlet, […], volume II, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co., →OCLC, page 291:
text: [I]t is a terrible long and slippery descent, and a shocking bad road. At the bottom, however, there is a pleasant public; whereat we must really take a modest quencher, for the down air is provocative of thirst.
ref: 1857, Thomas Hughes, Tom Brown's School Days:
text: The bar-parlour at the Green Man was in the oldest part of the pub. It lay at right angles to the Public which was partly visible and could be reached from it by means of a flap in the bar counter.
ref: 1956, Ngaio Marsh, “Camilla”, in Off with His Head (A New Portway Large Print Book), Bath, Somerset: Chivers Press, published 1987, →ISBN, page 26:
synonyms: word: alehouse
word: boozer
word: boozing ken
word: bousing ken
word: drinker
word: drinkery
word: gargle-factory
word: gin joint
word: groggery
word: local
word: nineteenth hole
word: pot-house
word: pub
word: public house
word: rummery
word: saloon
word: tavern
word: watering hole
glosses: Ellipsis of public house or (dated) public bar (“an inn, a pub: 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.”).
examples: text: the cinema-going public
text: the reading public
text: But year after year increased the number of Mr. [William] Wordsworth's admirers. They were found too not in the lower classes of the reading public, but chiefly among young men of strong sensibility and meditative minds; and their admiration (inflamed perhaps in some degree by opposition) was distinguished by its intensity, I might almost say, by its religious fervour.
ref: 1817, S[amuel] T[aylor] Coleridge, “Occasion of the Lyrical Ballads, and the Objects Originally Proposed—Preface to the Second Edition—The Ensuing Controversy, Its Causes and Acrimony—Philosophic Definitions of a Poem and Poetry with Scholia”, in Biographia Literaria; or Biographical Sketches of My Literary Life and Opinions, volume II, London: Rest Fenner, […], →OCLC, page 4:
text: People continually forget that there is a separate public for every picture, and for every book. Appealed to with reference to any particular work, the public is that class of persons who possess the knowledge which it presupposes, and the faculties to which it is addressed. With reference to a new edition of [Isaac] Newton's Principia, the "public" means little more than the Royal Society. With reference to one of [William] Wordsworth's poems, it means all who have hearts.
ref: 1843 December? (date written; published 1843 January), John Ruskin, “Art Criticism”, in [Alexander Dundas Ogilvy Wedderburn], editor, Arrows of the Chace: Being a Collection of Scattered Letters Published Chiefly in the Daily Newspapers,—1840–1880 […], volumes I (Letters on Art and Science), Orpington, Kent [London]: George Allen, […], published 1880, →OCLC, part I (Art Criticism and Art Education), page 21:
text: Generally, you as a public relations writer have multiple publics starting with your employer and your employer's publics (of course). To the extent that you will use them to reach many other publics, the news media will also be one of your publics.
ref: 2005, Donald Treadwell, Jill B. Treadwell, “Theoretical Influences on Public Relations Writing”, in Public Relations Writing: Principles in Practice, 2nd edition, Thousand Oaks, Calif.; London: Sage Publications, →ISBN, page 19:
qualifier: often public relations
glosses: Often preceded by the and a qualifying word: a particular demographic or group of people, or segment of the population, sharing some common characteristic.
topics: human-sciences
sciences
social-science
sociology
qualifier: often public relations
glosses: Often preceded by the and a qualifying word: a particular demographic or group of people, or segment of the population, sharing some common characteristic.
A group of people sharing some common cultural, political, or social interest, but not necessarily having any interactions with each other.
synonyms: commonweal
public interest
public good
glosses: 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.
qualifier: university slang
glosses: At Harvard University: a penalty imposed on a student involving a grade reduction which is communicated to the student's parents or guardian.
examples: text: Come follovv vs, / VVe are to ſpeake in publique: for this buſineſſe / VVill raiſe vs all.
ref: c. 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Winters Tale”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i], page 283, column 1:
text: [W]e went to the Chetto de san Felice, to see the noblemen and their ladies at Basset, a game at cards which is much used, but they play not in public, and all that have inclination to it are in masquerade, without speaking one word, and so they come in, play, loose or gaine, and go away as they please.
ref: 1645 June, John Evelyn, “[Diary entry for June 1645]”, in William Bray, editor, Memoirs, Illustrative of the Life and Writings of John Evelyn, […], 2nd edition, volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […]; and sold by John and Arthur Arch, […], published 1819, →OCLC, pages 191–192:
text: [S]he ſcolded me for I believe tvvo hours, on account of having left her, […] But ſhe aſſured me, that if ever I did ſo again, ſhe vvould never more take me into public.
ref: 1778, [Frances Burney], “Letter XXII. Evelina [to the Rev. Mr. Villars] in Continuation.”, in Evelina, or, A Young Lady’s Entrance into the World, volume I, London: […] T[homas] Lowndes, […], →OCLC, pages 177–178:
text: [M]y particular friend, Mrs. Partridge, the lady I have always resided with when in Bath, would be most happy to shew you any attentions, and would be the very person for you to go into public with.
ref: 1815 December (indicated as 1816), [Jane Austen], chapter XIV, in Emma: […], volume II, London: […] [Charles Roworth and James Moyes] for John Murray, →OCLC, page 267:
text: [K]isses, though pleasant in private, are insipid in public.
ref: 1857, Pisistratus Caxton [pseudonym; Edward Bulwer-Lytton], chapter I, in What will He Do with It? (Collection of British Authors; CCCCVII), Tauchnitz edition, volume I, Leipzig: Bernhard Tauchnitz, →OCLC, book I, page 6:
glosses: Chiefly in in public: the presence of spectators or people generally; the open.
Derived terms: antipublic
general public
Joe Public
John Q. Public
member of the public