publicly
English edit
Alternative forms edit
- publically (fairly rare)
- publickly (obsolete)
- publictly (rare, Scotland, from code switching with Scots)
- publiquely (obsolete)
Etymology edit
Pronunciation edit
Adverb edit
publicly (comparative more publicly, superlative most publicly)
- In public, openly, in an open and public manner.
- criticize someone publicly
- publicly announce something
- By, for, or on behalf of the public.
- publicly available
Usage notes edit
- 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 edit
Derived terms edit
Translations edit
in an open and public manner — see also in public
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References edit
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 publicly/publically at Google Ngram Viewer
- ^ “publically”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
- ^ “publically”, in Collins English Dictionary.
- ^ Is there a case for 'publically'? Part 1 | Macmillan Dictionary Blog
Further reading edit
- “publicly”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
- “publicly”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
Scots edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
From Early Modern English publiquely.
Adverb edit
publicly (not comparable)
- officially, in the presence of public representatives or on behalf the public
- 1858, Alexander Crawford Lindsay, quoting Lord Edzell, Lives of the Lindsays[1], 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.
- (please add an English translation of this quotation)
- openly, in the presence of other people
References edit
- “publicly, adv.”, 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.