Wiktionary

public

See also: públic

English Edit

 
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Alternative forms Edit

Etymology Edit

From Anglo-Norman publik, public, Middle French public, publique et al., and their source, Latin pūblicus (“pertaining to the people”). Compare people.

Displaced native Old English ceorlfolc and Old English folclic.

Pronunciation Edit

  • IPA(key): /ˈpʌblɪk/
  • Audio (US)(file)
  • Rhymes: -ʌblɪk
  • Hyphenation: pub‧lic

Adjective Edit

public (comparative more public, superlative most public)

  1. 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, [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.
  2. Pertaining to the people as a whole (as opposed to a private group); concerning the whole country, community etc. [from 15th c.]
    • 2010 September 16, Adam Vaughan, The Guardian:
      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[1], 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.
  3. 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:
      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 June 18, “The Guardian”, in Leader:
      But culture's total budget is a tiny proportion of all public spending; it is one of the government's most visible success stories.
  4. Open to all members of a community; especially, provided by national or local authorities and supported by money from taxes. [from 15th c.]
    • 2011 May 10, David Smith, The Guardian:
      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.
  5. (of a company) Traded publicly via a stock market.
  6. (not comparable, object-oriented programming) Accessible to the program in general, not only to the class or any subclasses.

Antonyms Edit

Derived terms Edit

Terms derived from public (adjective)

Related terms Edit

Terms etymologically related to public

Translations Edit

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Noun Edit

public (plural publics)

  1. 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[2]:
      “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.
  2. (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.
  3. (archaic) A public house; an inn.

Derived terms Edit

Translations Edit

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

References Edit

French Edit

Etymology Edit

Borrowed from Latin pūblicus. The noun is from the adjective.

Pronunciation Edit

Adjective Edit

public (feminine publique, masculine plural publics, feminine plural publiques)

  1. public (various meanings)
    1. (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.
    2. public; seen or known by everyone [from 1330]
      C’est une nouvelle qui est déjà publique. ― It's already public news.
    3. public; representing the state on behalf of the community [from 1390]
      Synonym: étatique
      pouvoirs publics ― public powers
      notaire public ― public notary
    4. public; open to all [from 1538]
      Synonym: commun
      lieu public ― public place
      fille publique ― streetwalker, prostitute (literally, “public girl”)

Derived terms Edit

Noun Edit

public m (plural publics)

  1. public (people in general) [from 1320]
    • 2015 October 3, Romain Gueugneau, “Le smartphone tout terrain s’aventure dans le grand public”, in LesEchos‎[3]:
      Et la demande augmente dans le grand public.
      And the demand is increasing amongst the general public.
  2. 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[4], performed by Céline Dion:
      Quand je chante, c’est pour le public
      When I sing, it's for the audience

Derived terms Edit

Further reading Edit

Ladin Edit

Adjective Edit

public m pl

  1. plural of publich

Occitan Edit

Etymology Edit

From Latin publicus.

Pronunciation Edit

Adjective Edit

public m (feminine singular publica, masculine plural publics, feminine plural publicas)

  1. public
    Antonym: privat

Derived terms Edit

Noun Edit

public m (plural publics)

  1. public, audience

Old French Edit

Alternative forms Edit

Adjective Edit

public m (oblique and nominative feminine singular publique)

  1. public (not private; available to the general populace)

Derived terms Edit

References Edit

Romanian Edit

Etymology Edit

Borrowed from French public, from Latin publicus.

Pronunciation Edit

Adjective Edit

public m or n (feminine singular publică, masculine plural publici, feminine and neuter plural publice)

  1. public

Declension Edit

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 Edit

public n (plural publice)

  1. the public
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