public

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /ˈpʌblɪk/

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

• (Ireland, Northern England) IPA^(key): /ˈpʊblɪk/
• Rhymes: -ʌblɪk
• Hyphenation: publ‧ic

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”),^[1] 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’).^[2] Doublet of people.

The Middle English word displaced native Old English ceorlfolc and folclic.

The verb is derived from the adjective.^[3]

public (comparative more public, superlative most public)

2. Able to be known or seen by everyone; happening without concealment; open to general view. [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 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.

   • 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:

     [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.

   • 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:

     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?

   • 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:

     The Parliament alſo permitted General [George] Monck to ſend M^r [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.

   • 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:

     [O]ur last advices from Spain inform us, that the prince of Asturias had made his public entry into Madrid in great splendour.

     The spelling has been modernized.

   • 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:

     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.

   • 2011 April 18, Sandra Laville, “Paul Stephenson returns to desk at Metropolitan police”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian‎^[1], London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-10-25:

     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.

   • 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^[2], volume 189, number 3, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2024-03-31, page 21:

     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.

4. 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. [from 15th c.]

   public library    public park

   • 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:

     I ſavv her once / Hop forty Paces through the publicke ſtreete, […]

   • 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:

     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.

   • 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:

     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."

   • 1924 July, John Buchan, “The House in Gospel Oak”, in The Three Hostages, London: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC, page 85:

     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.

   • 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:

     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."

   • 2011 May 10, David Smith, “South African ‘baby safe’ condemned by child welfare groups”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian‎^[3], London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2021-05-16:

     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.

   • 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^[4], volume 189, number 1, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2024-03-31, 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.

   2. (business) Of a company: having shares of stock traded publicly, for example, through a stock market.
6. Pertaining to the people as a whole, as opposed to a group of people; concerning the whole community or country. [from 15th c.]
   • 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:

     [S]tanding publick Records have been kept of theſe vvell atteſted Relations, and Epocha’s made of thoſe unvvonted events.

   • 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:

     [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.

   • 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:

     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.

   • 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:

     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?

   • 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:

     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.

   • 2010 September 16, Adam Vaughan, “Public awareness of the biodiversity crisis is virtually non-existent”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian‎^[5], London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-12-09:

     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 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^[6], volume 188, number 23, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-10-16, 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.

8. Officially representing the community; carried out or funded by the government or state on behalf of the community, rather than by a private organization. [from 15th c.]

   public housing    public officer    public prosecutor    public servant

   • 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:

     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.

   • 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:

     [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.

   • 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:

     [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: […]

   • 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:

     It is vvonderful, Sir, vvith hovv little real ſuperiority of mind men can make an eminent figure in publick life.

   • 1869, Louisa M[ay] Alcott, “[A] Friend”, in Little Women: […], part second, Boston, Mass.: Roberts Brothers, →OCLC, page 162:

     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; […]

   • 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XLIV, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC, page 356:

     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, “Economic policy: For art's sake”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian‎^[7], London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2017-11-22:

     But culture's total budget is a tiny proportion of all public spending; it is one of the government's most visible success stories.

9. 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.

   public face    public image

   • 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:

     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; […]

     The spelling has been modernized.

   • 1814 May 9, [Jane Austen], chapter III, in Mansfield Park: […], volume III, London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC, page 67:

     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.

11. (not comparable, by extension, object-oriented programming) Of an object: accessible to the program in general, not only to a class or subclass.
12. (archaic)
    1. Pertaining to nations collectively, or to nations regarded as civilized; international, supernational.
       • 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:

         […] 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.

       • 1665, Robert Boyle, “Occasional Reflections. Discourse XVII. Upon Ones Talking to an Eccho.”, in [John Weyland], editor, Occasional Reflections upon Several Subjects. With a Discourse about Such Kind of Thoughts, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Alex[ander] Ambrose Masson; and sold by John Henry Parker, […], published 1848, →OCLC, section IV (Which Treats of Angling Improv’d to Spiritual Uses), page 274:

         [S]uch a one concerns himself very needlessly for almost all the publique Quarrels in Christendome, and shews himself zealous for a party which will receive no advantage by his disquiets; […]

    2. Now chiefly in public spirit and public-spirited: seeking to further the best interests or well-being of the community or nation.
       • 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:

         [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, […]

       • 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:

         Suppoſe I ſhou'd ſtrike firſt, vvou'd it not breed / Grief in your publick heart to ſee her bleed?

       • 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:

         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.

       • 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:

         Napoleon had been the first man of the world, if his ends had been purely public.

    3. Now only in public figure: famous, prominent, well-known.
       • 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:

         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; […]

13. (UK, education, chiefly historical) 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.
    • 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:

      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].

14. (obsolete)
    1. Of or pertaining to the human race as a whole; common, universal.
       • 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:

         In Iron Clouds conceal'd the Publick Light: / And Impious Mortals fear'd Eternal Night.

       • 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:

         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.

    2. Chiefly in make public: of a work: printed or otherwise published.
       • 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:

         The firſt of his [Hernán Cortés's] diſpatches has never been made public. It vvas ſent from Vera-Cruz, July 16th, 1519.

• publick, publicke, publike, publique (all obsolete)

• nonpublic
• private
• unpublic

public (countable and uncountable, plural publics)

1. (countable, uncountable) Chiefly preceded by the: members of the community or the people in general, regardless of membership of any particular group.

   Members of the public may not proceed beyond this point.

   • 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:

     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.

   • 1611, Ben[jamin] Jonson, Catiline His Conspiracy, London: […] [William Stansby?] for Walter Burre, →OCLC, Act V, signature O, verso:

     Here, you, the ſad reuengers / Of capitall crimes, againſt the Publicke, take / This man vnto your iuſtice: ſtrangle him.

   • 1665, Robert Boyle, “Occasional Reflections. Discourse XI. Upon a Danger Springing from an Unseasonable Contest with the Steersman.”, in [John Weyland], editor, Occasional Reflections upon Several Subjects. With a Discourse about Such Kind of Thoughts, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Alex[ander] Ambrose Masson; and sold by John Henry Parker, […], published 1848, →OCLC, section IV (Which Treats of Angling Improv’d to Spiritual Uses), page 238:

     [I]t is not only requisite that the Prince know how to command well, but that the Subjects obey well; and that even weak Counsel, 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 froward and jarring endeavours of Men, that perhaps would be wiser Rulers if they had a right to be so.

   • 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:

     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.

   • 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:

     [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.

   • 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:

     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.

   • 2007 May 4, Martin Jacques, “Sarkozy plays the race card – and our establishment cheers”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian‎^[8], London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-08-08:

     [George Walker] Bush and [Tony] Blair stand condemned by their own publics and face imminent political extinction.

2. (countable)
   1. 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.

      Hyponyms: readership, viewership

      • 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:

        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; […]

   2. (informal) Short for public house (“an inn, a pub”); also (dated), in full public bar: 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.

      Synonyms: see Thesaurus:pub

      • 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:

        [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.

      • 1857, Thomas Hughes, Tom Brown's School Days:

        [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.

      • 1956, Ngaio Marsh, “Camilla”, in Off with His Head (A New Portway Large Print Book), Bath, Somerset: Chivers Press, published 1987, →ISBN, page 26:

        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.

   3. (often public relations) Often preceded by the and a qualifying word: a particular demographic or group of people, or segment of the population, sharing some common characteristic.

      the cinema-going public    the reading public

      • 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:

        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.

      • 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 […], volume I (Letters on Art and Science), Orpington, Kent [London]: George Allen, […], published 1880, →OCLC, part I (Art Criticism and Art Education), page 21:

        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.

      • 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:

        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.

      1. (sociology) A group of people sharing some common cultural, political, or social interest, but not necessarily having any interactions with each other.
   4. (obsolete)
      1. 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.

         (well-being): Synonyms: (archaic or obsolete) commonweal, public interest, public good

      2. (US, university slang) At Harvard University: a penalty imposed on a student involving a grade reduction which is communicated to the student's parents or guardian.
3. (uncountable) Chiefly in in public: the presence of spectators or people generally; the open.
   • 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:

     Come follovv vs, / VVe are to ſpeake in publique: for this buſineſſe / VVill raiſe vs all.

   • 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:

     [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.

   • 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:

     [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.

   • 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:

     [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.

   • 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:

     [K]isses, though pleasant in private, are insipid in public.

• publick, publicke, publike, publique (all obsolete)

public (third-person singular simple present publics, present participle publicing, simple past and past participle publiced)

1. (transitive, originally Scotland, archaic) To make (something) openly or widely known; to publicize, to publish.
   • 1939 May 4, James Joyce, Finnegans Wake, London: Faber and Faber Limited, →OCLC; republished London: Faber & Faber Limited, 1960, →OCLC, part I, page 160:

     [H]e is such a barefooted rubber with my supersocks pulled over his face which I publicked in my bestback garden for the laetification of siderodromites and to the irony of the stars.

Semantic loan from Russian па́блик (páblik) and Ukrainian па́блик (páblyk), па́блік (páblik, “public webpage on a blog or on social media”), both borrowed from English public: see etymology 1.

public (plural publics)

1. (non-native speakers' English, neologism) An internet publication.
   • 2023 January 7, Alexander Grigoryev, “Russian public: PMC "Wagner" fighters report that the Armed Forces of Ukraine are using unidentified chemical weapons in Artemovsk”, in Military Review‎^[9]:

     Russian publics report that the fighters of the Wagner group have already practically taken possession of Soledar, there are fights on the outskirts, where the Vushniks are trying to fight back in the salt mines.

   • 2023 December, Iryna Rudia, Vaiva Zuzevičiūtė, Olena Gogorenko, Public Security and Public Order‎^[10], number 34, Kaunas: Mykolas Romeris University, →DOI, pages 219 of 218–225:

     Complex inductions are unconscious powerful components of influence. They include the following varieties:
     […] 4) Truisms. The term comes from the English word "true", which means "truth". Therefore, under truism it is accepted to understand banal truths, i.e. something that in principle does not require confirmation, but it is so banal and common knowledge that it is rather strange to base on it, but here again there is a "but". In our subconsciousness we perceive it as a certain axiom, and this axiom is interpreted by our subconsciousness itself. As an example, the phrase "In matters of war, Russia is Russia, and Ukraine is Ukraine" was repeatedly encountered in Russian publics. In principle, there is no sense in this phrase, because not a single fact is given. However, each of the readers interpreted it for himself, and putting the word "Russia" in the foreground makes a hint that Russia is stronger than Ukraine in military terms, but the phrase itself does not express such a meaning extra-linguistically.

• public on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “public”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “public”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “public, publict, publitt, v.”, 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.
• public in Keywords for Today: A 21st Century Vocabulary, edited by The Keywords Project, Colin MacCabe, Holly Yanacek, 2018.
• “public”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

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

• IPA^(key): /py.blik/

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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”)

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^[11]:

     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^[12], performed by Céline Dion:

     Quand je chante, c’est pour le public

     When I sing, it's for the audience

• “public”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

public m pl

1. plural of publich

From Latin publicus.

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

1. public

   Antonym: privat

• publicament

public m (plural publics)

1. public, audience

• publik
• publiq
• publique

public m (oblique and nominative feminine singular publique)

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

• en public

• publik on the Anglo-Norman On-Line Hub

Borrowed from French public, from Latin publicus.

• IPA^(key): /ˈpu.blik/

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

1. public

public n (plural publice)

1. the public