public.
Able to be known or seen by everyone; happening without concealment; open to general view.
Meaning & usage
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.
public library public park
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.
public housing public officer public prosecutor public servant
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
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 in make public: of a work: printed or otherwise published.
Where this word comes from
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.
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.
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.
the cinema-going public
the reading public
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.
Where this word comes from
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.
To make (something) openly or widely known; to publicize, to publish.
Where this word comes from
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.
An internet publication.
Where this word comes from
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.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.