Word.ws English Dictionary

public

Syllables: publ·icUK/ˈpʌb.lɪk/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

Ireland/ˈpʊb.lɪk/

public adjective: able to be known or seen by everyone; happening without concealment; open to general view. Also the ellipsis of public house or.

Adjective

public (comparative more public, superlative most public)

  1. Able to be known or seen by everyone; happening without concealment; open to general view.
    • 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.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]...
    • [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.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]...
  2. 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.
    • public library public park
    • I ſavv her once / Hop forty Paces through the publicke ſtreete, […]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...
    1. Of a company: having shares of stock traded publicly, for example, through a stock market.
  3. Pertaining to the people as a whole, as opposed to a group of people; concerning the whole community or country.
    • [S]tanding publick Records have been kept of theſe vvell atteſted Relations, and Epocha’s made of thoſe unvvonted events.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
    • [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.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...
  4. Officially representing the community; carried out or funded by the government or state on behalf of the community, rather than by a private organization.
    • public housing public officer public prosecutor public servant
    • 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.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: […]...
  5. 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
    • 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; […]1709 May 13 (Gregorian calendar), Jenny Distaff [pseudonym; Richard Steele], “Monday, May 3, 1709”, in The Tatler, number 10; republished in [Richard Steele], editor, The Tatler, […], London...
  6. (broadly, not comparable, object-oriented programming) Of an object: accessible to the program in general, not only to a class or subclass.
  7. (archaic) Pertaining to nations collectively, or to nations regarded as civilized; international, supernational.
    • […] 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.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....
    • [S]uch a one concerns himſelf very needleſsly for almoſt all the publique Quarrels in Chriſtendome, and ſhevvs himſelf zealous for a party vvhich vvill receive no advantage by his diſquiets; […]1665, Robert Boyle, “Occasional Reflections. Discourse XVII. Upon Ones Talking to an Eccho.”, in Occasional Reflections upon Several Subiects. Whereto is Premis’d a Discourse about Such Kind of...
  8. (archaic) Now chiefly in public spirit and public-spirited: seeking to further the best interests or well-being of the community or nation.
    • [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, […]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...
    • Suppoſe I ſhou'd ſtrike firſt, vvou'd it not breed / Grief in your publick heart to ſee her bleed?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...
  9. (archaic) Now only in public figure: famous, prominent, well-known.
    • 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; […]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
  10. (UK, 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.
    • 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].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: […]...
  11. (obsolete) Of or pertaining to the human race as a whole; common, universal.
    • In Iron Clouds conceal'd the Publick Light: / And Impious Mortals fear'd Eternal Night.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...
    • 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.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., […]...
  12. (obsolete) Chiefly in make public: of a work: printed or otherwise published.
    • The firſt of his [Hernán Cortés's] diſpatches has never been made public. It vvas ſent from Vera-Cruz, July 16th, 1519.1777, 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

Noun (1)

public (countable and uncountable, plural publics)

  1. 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.
    • 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.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]...
  2. 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.
    • 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...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
  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
    1. (often public relations) A group of people sharing some common cultural, political, or social interest, but not necessarily having any interactions with each other.
  4. (obsolete) 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.
  5. (US, obsolete, 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.
  6. (uncountable) Chiefly in in public: the presence of spectators or people generally; the open.
    • Come follovv vs, / VVe are to ſpeake in publique: for this buſineſſe / VVill raiſe vs all.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...
    • [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...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, […]...

Verb

public (third-person singular simple present publics, present participle publicking, simple past and past participle publicked)

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

Noun (2)

public (plural publics)

  1. (neologism, non-native speakers' English) An internet publication.
    • 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 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
    • 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...2023 December, Iryna Rudia, Vaiva Zuzevičiūtė, Olena Gogorenko, Public Security and Public Order, number 34, Kaunas: Mykolas Romeris University, →DOI, pages 219 of 218–225

Also used as

public is also the ellipsis of public house or.

public meaning in Hindi, Marathi, Urdu and Bengali

public in Hindi

open to all members of a community, as opposed to only a segment of it
सार्वजनिक sārvajnik
able to be known or seen by everyone
सार्वजनिक sārvajnik
of a company: having shares of stock traded publicly
सार्वजनिक sārvajnik
pertaining to people as a whole, as opposed to a group of people
जनता jantā

public in Marathi

सार्वजनिक

public in Urdu

open to all members of a community, as opposed to only a segment of it
عَوامی 'avāmī, پَبْلِک pablik, عُمُومی 'umūmī
pertaining to people as a whole, as opposed to a group of people
اِجْتِماعی ijtimā'ī, عُمُومی 'umūmī
members of the community or the people in general
عَوام 'avām, عُمُوم 'umūm

public in Bengali

জনসাধারণের
More languagesFewer languages
public in Telugu
బాహాటము bāhāṭamu, వేలం vēlaṁ, ప్రజా prajā, ప్రభుత్వ నిధి prabhutva nidhi
public in Malayalam
പൊതുജനങ്ങൾ, പൊതുജനം
public in Kannada
ಸಾರ್ವಜನಿಕ
public in Punjabi
ਅਵਾਮ avām, ਜਨਤਾ jantā
public in Gujarati
જાહેર jāher
public in Odia
ସାର୍ବଜନୀନ
public in Assamese
ৰাইজ raiz
public in Nepali
सार्वजनिक
public in Tagalog
pangmadla, bayan, madla
public in Arabic
عُمُومِيّ ʕumūmiyy, عَلَنِيّ ʕalaniyy, عَامّ ʕāmm, عَامَّة ʕāmma
public in Malay
awam
public in Indonesian
umum, terbuka, publik, khalayak
public in Thai
สาธารณะ sǎa-taa-rá-ná, ประชาชน bprà-chaa-chon, มหาชน má-hǎa-chon, สาธารณชน sǎa-taa-rá-ná-chon
public in Vietnamese
công cộng, công chúng, xã hội
public in Myanmar
အများပိုင် a.mya:puing

Examples of public in a sentence

  • [O]ur last advices from Spain inform us, that the prince of Asturias had made his public entry into Madrid in great splendour.1709 May 15 (Gregorian calendar), Isaac Bickerstaff [pseudonym; Richard Steele et al.], “Wednesday, May 5, 1709”, in The Tatler, number 11...
  • 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 1987.2011 April 18, Sandra Laville, “Paul Stephenson returns to desk at Metropolitan police”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian, London...
  • When a series of bank failures made this impossible, there was widespread anger, leading to the public humiliation of symbolic figures.2013 June 19, Joris Luyendijk, “Our banks are not merely out of control. They’re beyond control [print version: Our banks are out of...
  • 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.1848, [Elizabeth Gaskell], chapter I, in Mary Barton: A Tale of Manchester Life. […] (Chapman and Hall’s Series of Original Works of...

All 40 example sentences with public

Synonyms of public

11 more synonymsFewer synonyms

Antonyms

All synonyms and antonyms of public

Forms of public

Adjective
comparativemore public
superlativemost public
alternative formpublick
alternative formpublicke
alternative formpublike
alternative formpublique
Noun
pluralpublics
Verb
third-person singular presentpublics
present participlepublicking
past participlepublicked
pastpublicked

Plural of public: publics

Origin of public

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.

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

Words formed from public

Phrases with public

147 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with public

Questions about public

What does public mean?
Public means able to be known or seen by everyone; happening without concealment; open to general view.
What is public in Hindi?
Public in Hindi is सार्वजनिक (sārvajnik), जनता (jantā), लोक (lok). See Public meaning in Hindi.
How do you use public in a sentence?
[O]ur last advices from Spain inform us, that the prince of Asturias had made his public entry into Madrid in great splendour.
What part of speech is public?
Public can be an adjective, a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce public?
Public is pronounced /ˈpʌb.lɪk/ (UK).

Words near public in the dictionary

  1. publ.
  2. publand
  3. publands
  4. publess
  5. publessness
  6. public
  7. public access
  8. public access television
  9. public address system
  10. public address systems
  11. public administration

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: public (page history and authors); public (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); public (Bengali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); public (Malayalam, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); public (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); public (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); public (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-public.ogg.

Cite this entry: “public.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/public. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.