public

Meaning

Adj

1. Able to be known or seen by everyone; happening without concealment; open to general view.
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.
3. 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.
4. Pertaining to the people as a whole, as opposed to a group of people; concerning the whole community or country.
5. Officially representing the community; carried out or funded by the government or state on behalf of the community, rather than by a private organization.
6. 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.
7. Of an object: accessible to the program in general, not only to a class or subclass.
8. Pertaining to nations collectively, or to nations regarded as civilized; international, supernational.
9. Now chiefly in public spirit and public-spirited: seeking to further the best interests or well-being of the community or nation.
10. Now only in public figure: famous, prominent, well-known.
11. 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.
12. (obsolete) Of or pertaining to the human race as a whole; common, universal.
13. (obsolete) Chiefly in make public: of a work: printed or otherwise published.

Noun

1. Chiefly preceded by the: members of the community or the people in general, regardless of membership of any particular group.
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.
3. (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.
4. Often preceded by the and a qualifying word: a particular demographic or group of people, or segment of the population, sharing some common characteristic.
5. Often preceded by the and a qualifying word: a particular demographic or group of people, or segment of the population, sharing some common characteristic.
6. (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.
7. (obsolete) At Harvard University: a penalty imposed on a student involving a grade reduction which is communicated to the student's parents or guardian.
8. Chiefly in in public: the presence of spectators or people generally; the open.

Verb

To make (something) openly or widely known; to publicize, to publish.

Noun

An internet publication.

Concepts

public

people

open

common

world

general

audience

community

crowd

masses

official

social

populace

communal

general public

overt

universal

national

society

company

broad

usual

widespread

popular

formal

having one’s own way

ruling power

whole country

collective

state

civic

mutual

folk

mankind

governmental

public good

citizens

community at large

people in general

in public

prevailing

civil

mass

group

manifest

nation-wide

people’s

outside

human beings

persons

the public

citizen

subject

common people

gathering

commonalty

mortality

accountant

public service

busy place

descent from heaven

ostensible

outward appearance

around town

on the street

great unwashed

citizenry

masses of the people

ordinary

over all

customary

open air

shared

nationwide

free

not hidden

undisguised

known to all people

open to the public

attendance

political

pub.

state-operated

belonging to everybody

matter of fact

creature

celebrated

well-known

made known

known

exterior

external

outer

outward

avowed

declared

patent

professed

frequent

generalized

generic

rife

house

association

joint

municipal

commonly

generally

together

widely known

publicly

in the open

well known

private affair

government

nation

subjects

government property

multitude

class

family

humanity

humankind

man

meeting

secret

Hyphenated as

publ‧ic

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈpʌblɪk/

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’). Doublet of people.
The Middle English word displaced native Old English ceorlfolc and folclic.
The verb is derived from the adjective.

Sentences

The Town Hall is open to the public and may be visited .

At its center was Henry Clay Square , a large area reserved for public buildings .

My tax dollars pay for those public school proms .