Dictionary Definition
public adj
1 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" [ant: private]
2 affecting the people or community as a whole;
"community leaders"; "community interests"; "the public
welfare"
Noun
1 people in general considered as a whole; "he is
a hero in the eyes of the public" [syn: populace, world]
2 a body of people sharing some common interest;
"the reading public"
User Contributed Dictionary
Pronunciation
- /ˈpʰʌblɪk/, /"p_hVblIk/
- Hyphenation: pub·lic
Adjective
- Pertaining to the affairs or official affairs of all people, not just those of a private group; contrasted with private.
- Open to all.
- Funded by the government.
- In the context of "of a company": Traded publicly via a stock market.
Translations
pertaining to the affairs or official affairs of
all people
- Arabic: (ʕāmm), (ʕumúmiyy)
- Chinese: 公共 (gōnggòng)
- Czech: veřejný
- Dutch: publiek
- Finnish: julkinen
- French: public
- German: öffentlich
- Greek: δημόσιος, κοινός
- Hungarian: nyilvános
- Italian: pubblico
- Japanese: 公衆の (こうしゅうの, kōshū no)
- Korean: 공중의 (gongjung-ui)
- Portuguese: público
- Russian: общественный
- Spanish: público
- Swedish: offentlig
open to all
- Czech: veřejný
- Greek: δημόσιος
Noun
- The people in general, regardless of membership of any
particular group.
- Members of the public may not proceed beyond this point.
- 2007 May 4, Martin Jacques, The Guardian
- Bush and Blair stand condemned by their own publics and face imminent political extinction.
Antonyms
Usage notes
- Although generally considered uncountable, this noun does also have countable useage, as in the citation above.
Translations
people in general
- Arabic: جمهور
- Czech: veřejnost
- Finnish: yleisö
- French: public
- German: Publikum
- Greek: κοινό
- Hebrew: ציבור
- Latin: publicum, vulgus
- Portuguese: público
- Slovene: javnost
- Spanish: público
Related terms
French
Etymology 1
From publicus.Adjective
Etymology 2
Noun use of public (cf publicum).Noun
fr-noun mExtensive Definition
Public is about the what of belonging to the
people; relating to, or affecting, a nation, state, or community;
opposed to private;
as, the public treasury, a road or lake. Public is also defined as
the people of a nation not affiliated with the government of that
nation.
Public to the general body of mankind, or of a
nation, state, or community; the people, indefinitely; as, the
public; also, a particular body or aggretion of people; as, an
author's public. "public Network" means a network that is regulated
as a common
carrier.
Aggens (1983), in the paper titled "Identifying
different levels of public interest in participation" states:
"There is no single public, but different levels of public based on
differing levels of interest and ability".
Selected bibliography
- Dewey, John. Public & Its Problems, Swallow Press, June 1954, ISBN 0-8040-0254-1.
- Habermas, Jürgen. The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere: An Inquiry into a Category of Bourgeois Society, (Studies in Contemporary German Social Thought), The MIT Press; Reprint edition, August 28, 1991, ISBN 0-262-58108-6.
- Habermas, Jürgen. The Theory of Communicative Action, Volume 2: Lifeword and System: A Critique of Functionalist Reason, Thomas McCarthy (Translator), Beacon Press; Reprint edition, 1987, ISBN 0-8070-1401-X.
- Hannay, Alastair. On the Public, Routledge; 1 edition, July 13, 2005, ISBN 0-415-32792-X.
- Kierkegaard, Soren. A Literary Review (Penguin Classics), Alastair Hannay (Translator), Penguin Classics, March 26, 2002, ISBN 0-14-044801-2.
- Lippmann, Walter. The Phantom Public (Library of Conservative Thought), Transaction Publishers; Reprint edition, January 1, 1993, ISBN 1-56000-677-3.
- Mayhew, Leon H.. The New Public: Professional Communication and the Means of Social Influence, (Cambridge Cultural Social Studies), Cambridge University Press, September 28, 1997, ISBN 0-521-48493-6.
- Sennett, Richard. The Fall of Public Man W. W. Norton & Company; Reissue edition, June 1992, ISBN 0-393-30879-0.
See also
- Public access
- Public administration
- Public affairs
- Public art
- Public broadcasting
- Public choice
- Public company
- Public debate
- Public defender
- Public domain
- Public editor
- Public eye
- Public finance
- Public good
- Public health
- Public house
- Public inquiry
- Public interest
- Public Ivies
- Public key
- Public law
- public
- Public lecture
- Public library
- Public network
- Public nudity
- Public ownership
- Public policy
- Public radio
- Public relations
- Public road
- Public safety
- Public school
- Public sector
- Public services
- Public space
- Public speaking
- Public sphere
- Public transport
- Public university
- Public utility
- Public works
- Private
public in German: Público
public in Spanish: Público (diario
portugués)
public in French: Public (sociologie)
public in Croatian: Javnost
public in Indonesian: Publik
public in Italian: Pubblico
public in Japanese: 公共
public in Portuguese: Público
public in Slovak: Verejnosť
public in Slovenian: Javnost
public in Serbian: Јавно мњење
public in Finnish: Público
public in Swedish: Allmän
Synonyms, Antonyms and Related Words
Babbittish, Everyman, John Doe, Philistine, Public, accessible, acknowledged, adherent, admitted, affirmed, alehouse, announced, apparent, appendage, associated, attendant, audience, available, bar, barrel house, barroom, beer garden, beer
parlor, bistro, blatant, blind tiger, boardinghouse, body
politic, bourgeois,
bourgeoisie,
broadcast, brought to
notice, buff, business, buyers, cabaret, cafe, campy, carriage trade, catholic, cavaliere servente,
celebrated, circulated, citizenry, citizens, civic, civil, clear, clear-cut, clientage, clientele, cocktail lounge,
collective, collectivistic, common, common knowledge, common
man, common property, commonalty, commonly known,
commonplace,
commonwealth,
communal, communistic, community, community at large,
commutual, conjoint, conjunct, conspicuous, constituency, consumers, cooperative, cortical, cosmopolitan, courtier, cultural community,
current, custom, dangler, declared, demos, dependent, diffused, disciple, disreputable, disseminated, distributed, dive, dorm, dormitory, doss house,
dramshop, drinking
saloon, dwellers,
eminent, epidermic, estate, everybody, everyman, everyone, everywoman, exomorphic, exposed, exterior, external, extrinsic, familiar, famous, fan, flagrant, fleabag, flophouse, flunky, folk, folks, follower, followers, following, free, fringe, general, general public,
gentry, gin mill,
government, governmental, groggery, grogshop, guest house, habitancy, hackneyed, hanger-on, henchman, high-camp, hoi
polloi, homely, homespun, homme de cour,
honky-tonk, hospice,
hostel, hostelry, hotel, household, illustrious, in circulation,
in common, in print, in public, in the open, infamous, influential, inhabitants, inn, international, joint, kitschy, known, linguistic community,
local, lodging house,
low-camp, made public, make public, manifest, market, masses, men, middle class, multitude, municipal, mutual, nation, national, nationality, nightclub, notable, noted, notorious, obvious, open, openly, ordinary, out, outer, outermost, outlying, outmost, outside, outstanding, outward, outward-facing,
overt, parasite, partisan, patent, patronage, pension, people, people at large, people
in general, peripheral, persons, plain, platitudinous, plebeian, plebeians, polity, pop, populace, popular, population, portion, posada, pothouse, proclaimed, projected, proletariat, prominent, propagated, proverbial, pub, public house, publicly, publish, published, purchasing public,
pursuer, pursuivant, rank and file,
rathskeller,
reciprocal, renowned, reported, roadhouse, rooming house,
roundabout, rumshop, rural market, saloon, saloon bar, satellite, sectary, sector, seeming, segment, shadow, shared, social, socialistic, societal, society, speakeasy, special-interest
group, speech community, spread, state, stated, stooge, suburban market, successor, suite, superficial, supporter, supranational, surface, tagtail, tail, talked-about, talked-of,
taproom, tavern, telecast, televised, the citizenry, the
general public, the people, the populace, the population, the
public, third estate, trade, trainbearer, trite, truistic, unconcealed, universal, universally
admitted, universally recognized, unrestricted, unshrouded, urban, vernacular, viewable, visible, votary, ward heeler, well-kenned,
well-known, well-recognized, well-understood, whole people, widely
known, widespread,
wine shop, world, worldwide, you and me, youth
market