public
Meanings
- Able to be known or seen by everyone; happening without concealment; open to general view.
- 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.
- Pertaining to the people as a whole, as opposed to a group of people; concerning the whole community or country.
- Officially representing the community; carried out or funded by the government or state on behalf of the community, rather than by a private organization.
- 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.
- Of an object: accessible to the program in general, not only to a class or subclass.
- Pertaining to nations collectively, or to nations regarded as civilized; international, supernational.
- Now chiefly in public spirit and public-spirited: seeking to further the best interests or well-being of the community or nation.
- Now only in public figure: famous, prominent, well-known.
- 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.
- Of or pertaining to the human race as a whole; common, universal.
- Chiefly preceded by the: members of the community or the people in general, regardless of membership of any particular group.
- 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.
- 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.”).
- 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.
- 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.
- At Harvard University: a penalty imposed on a student involving a grade reduction which is communicated to the student's parents or guardian.
- Chiefly in in public: the presence of spectators or people generally; the open.
- To make (something) openly or widely known; to publicize, to publish.
- An internet publication.
Pronunciation
Word forms
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’). Related to people, populus, etc. The Middle English word displaced native Old English ceorlfolc and folclic. The verb is derived from the adjective.