What does public mean?
Definitions for public
ˈpʌb lɪkpub·lic
This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word public.
Princeton's WordNet
populace, public, worldnoun
people in general considered as a whole
"he is a hero in the eyes of the public"
publicadjective
a body of people sharing some common interest
"the reading public"
publicadjective
not private; open to or concerning the people as a whole
"the public good"; "public libraries"; "public funds"; "public parks"; "a public scandal"; "public gardens"; "performers and members of royal families are public figures"
publicadjective
affecting the people or community as a whole
"community leaders"; "community interests"; "the public welfare"
Wiktionary
publicnoun
The people in general, regardless of membership of any particular group.
Members of the public may not proceed beyond this point.
publicadjective
Able to be seen or known by everyone; open to general view, happening without concealment.
publicadjective
Pertaining to all the people as a whole (as opposed a private group); concerning the whole country, community etc.
publicadjective
Officially representing the community; carried out or funded by the state on behalf of the community.
publicadjective
Open to all members of a community; especially, provided by national or local authorities and supported by money from taxes.
publicadjective
Traded publicly via a stock market.
Etymology: From publik, public, public, publique et al., and their source, publicus, alteration (probably after pubes) of populicus, from populus. Compare people.
Wikipedia
Public
In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the Öffentlichkeit or public sphere. The concept of a public has also been defined in political science, psychology, marketing, and advertising. In public relations and communication science, it is one of the more ambiguous concepts in the field. Although it has definitions in the theory of the field that have been formulated from the early 20th century onwards, and suffered more recent years from being blurred, as a result of conflation of the idea of a public with the notions of audience, market segment, community, constituency, and stakeholder.https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cn_xdtIjrrQ/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
ChatGPT
public
Public generally refers to something that is accessible or available to the general population. It can refer to spaces or services that are maintained or funded by the government and are open to all members of the public without any discrimination. It can also refer to information, discussions, or activities that are meant for open participation or knowledge dissemination among the general public. Public can also describe something related to the community, society, or the people as a whole, rather than being limited to a specific individual or private entity.
Webster Dictionary
Publicadjective
of or pertaining to the people; belonging to the people; relating to, or affecting, a nation, state, or community; -- opposed to private; as, the public treasury
Publicadjective
open to the knowledge or view of all; general; common; notorious; as, public report; public scandal
Publicadjective
open to common or general use; as, a public road; a public house
Publicnoun
the general body of mankind, or of a nation, state, or community; the people, indefinitely; as, the American public; also, a particular body or aggregation of people; as, an author's public
Publicnoun
a public house; an inn
Etymology: [L. publicus, poblicus, fr. populus people: cf. F. public. See People.]
Wikidata
Public
In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the Öffentlichkeit or public sphere. The concept of a public has also been defined in political science, psychology, marketing, and advertising. In public relations and communication science, it is one of the more ambiguous concepts in the field. Although it has definitions in the theory of the field that have been formulated from the early 20th century onwards, it has suffered in more recent years from being blurred, as a result of conflation of the idea of a public with the notions of audience, market segment, community, constituency, and stakeholder. The name "public" originates with the Latin "populus" or "poplicus", and in general denotes some mass population in association with some matter of common interest. So in political science and history, a public is a population of individuals in association with civic affairs, or affairs of office or state. In social psychology, marketing, and public relations, a public has a more situational definition. John Dewey defined a public as a group of people who, in facing a similar problem, recognize it and organize themselves to address it. Dewey's definition of a public is thus situational: people organized about a situation. Built upon this situational definition of a public is the situational theory of publics by James E. Grunig, which talks of nonpublics, latent publics, aware publics, and active publics.
Chambers 20th Century Dictionary
Public
pub′lik, adj. of or belonging to the people: pertaining to a community or a nation: general: common to or shared in by all: generally known.—n. the people: the general body of mankind: the people, indefinitely: a public-house, tavern.—ns. Pub′lican, the keeper of an inn or public-house: (orig.) a farmer-general of the Roman taxes: a tax-collector; Publicā′tion, the act of publishing or making public: a proclamation: the act of printing and sending out for sale, as a book: that which is published as a book, &c.—ns.pl. Pub′lic-bills, -laws, &c., bills, laws, &c. which concern the interests of the whole people; Pub′lic-funds, money lent to government for which interest is paid of a stated amount at a stated time.—ns. Pub′lic-house, a house open to the public: one chiefly used for selling beer and other liquors: an inn or tavern; Pub′lic-institū′tion, an institution kept up by public funds for the public use, as an educational or charitable foundation; Pub′licist, one who writes on or is skilled in public law, or on current political topics; Public′ity, the state of being public or open to the knowledge of all: notoriety; Pub′lic-law (see International).—adv. Pub′licly.—adjs. Pub′lic-mind′ed, -spir′ited, having a spirit actuated by regard to the public interest: with a regard to the public interest.—ns. Pub′licness; Pub′lic-opin′ion, the view which the people of a district or county take of any question of public interest; Pub′lic-pol′icy, the main principles or spirit upon which the law of a country is constructed; Pub′lic-spir′it, a strong desire and effort to work on behalf of the public interest.—adv. Pub′lic-spir′itedly.—n. Pub′lic-spir′itedness.—n.pl. Pub′lic-works, permanent works or improvements made for public use or benefit.—Public health, the department in any government, municipality, &c. which superintends sanitation; Public holiday, a general holiday ordained by parliament; Public lands, lands belonging to government, esp. such as are open to sale, grant, &c.; Public orator, an officer of English universities who is the voice of the Senate upon all public occasions; Public school (see School).—In public, in open view. [Fr.,—L. publicus—populus, the people.]
Editors Contribution
public
Accessible to people.
Members of the public can choose to either have their online profiles public or private.
Submitted by MaryC on February 24, 2020
public
The population of a country.
The public have a right to have a say in the running of their country - democracy is a form of power to the people i.e. the public.
Submitted by MaryC on April 5, 2020
Surnames Frequency by Census Records
PUBLIC
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Public is ranked #64200 in terms of the most common surnames in America.
The Public surname appeared 310 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 would have the surname Public.
81.9% or 254 total occurrences were White.
9% or 28 total occurrences were of Hispanic origin.
3.5% or 11 total occurrences were Asian.
2.9% or 9 total occurrences were of two or more races.
Matched Categories
British National Corpus
Spoken Corpus Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'public' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #286
Written Corpus Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'public' in Written Corpus Frequency: #806
Nouns Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'public' in Nouns Frequency: #470
Adjectives Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'public' in Adjectives Frequency: #29
Usage in printed sourcesFrom:
- 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Numerology
Chaldean Numerology
The numerical value of public in Chaldean Numerology is: 5
Pythagorean Numerology
The numerical value of public in Pythagorean Numerology is: 9
Examples of public in a Sentence
We can have all the public support that we want but if people do not get out and vote, we're not going to have an impact.
Most of the public speeches at America’s founding were sermons.
The perception of the PR expert as a creative liar is going to die over the next few years. It will dissolve as a notion in the public mindset, because liars simply cannot exist in modern PR life.
Phillips 66 cannot meet its propane recovery project objectives without switching to a lower quality feedstock, like tar sands, and without other Phillips 66 projects to assist in that overall switch, these are critical project components that the (Environmental Impact Report) should have, but failed to, disclose to the public.
I have the consolation of having added nothing to my private fortune during my public service, and of retiring with hands clean as they are empty.
Popularity rank by frequency of use
References
Translations for public
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
- علني, جمهور, عام, عموميArabic
- foranBreton
- públicCatalan, Valencian
- veřejnost, veřejnýCzech
- cyhoeddWelsh
- offentligDanish
- öffentlich, Publikum, ÖffentlichkeitGerman
- κοινο-, κοινό, κοινός, δημόσιοςGreek
- publikoEsperanto
- públicoSpanish
- عمومیPersian
- yleisö, julkinen, pörssi, julkisoikeudellinen, yleinenFinnish
- publicFrench
- daoine, poiblí, pobalIrish
- sluagh, poblachScottish Gaelic
- ציבורHebrew
- जनताHindi
- piblikHaitian Creole
- köz, közösségi, nagyközönség, nyilvános, nyilvánosságHungarian
- khalayak, umum, terbukaIndonesian
- opinberIcelandic
- pubblicoItalian
- 大衆Japanese
- 공중의Korean
- vulgus, publicumLatin
- mārakerake, tūmatanui, o te katoa, marea, marakeMāori
- staats-, openbaar, overheids-, publiekDutch
- allmenn, offentlig, allmenntNorwegian
- publicznyPolish
- público, estatalPortuguese
- общественность, народ, публичный, общественный, публикаRussian
- javni, publika, javnostSerbo-Croatian
- javnostSlovene
- allmän, offentlig, statlig, allmänhetSwedish
- ప్రజలు, వేలం, ప్రజా, బాహాటము, ప్రభుత్వ నిధిTelugu
- สาธารณะThai
- halka açıkTurkish
- công cộngVietnamese
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Translation
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