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Etymology data from Wiktionary via Wiktextract (CC BY-SA 4.0). Chinese character data from the 說文解字, the Taiwan MOE 國語辭典簡編本 (CC BY-ND 3.0 TW) and HSK/TOCFL lists.

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English

public

/ˈpʌb.lɪk/
Able to be known or seen by everyone; happening without concealment; open to general view.

    Etymology graph

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    Origin

    Etymology 1

    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.

    Etymology 2

    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.

    From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

    Lineage

    • rootProto-Indo-European*pleh₁- “to fill”
    • inheritedMiddle Englishpublik
      • derivedAnglo-Normanpublic
        • derivedMiddle Frenchpublic
          • derivedOld Frenchpublic “(adjective) generally observable, public; relating to the general public; official; (noun) communit…”
            • derivedLatinpūblicus “of or belonging to the community, people, or state; general, public”
              • derivedProto-Italic*poplos “army”
    • semantic loanRussianпа́блик
      • semantic loanUkrainianпа́блік “public webpage on a blog or on social media”

    Related: French public

    Words built on it: public school

    Meanings

    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. Of a company: having shares of stock traded publicly, for example, through a stock market.
    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.
    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. Often preceded by the and a qualifying word: a particular demographic or group of people, or segment of the population, sharing some common characteristic.
    4. A group of people sharing some common cultural, political, or social interest, but not necessarily having any interactions with each other.
    5. 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.
    6. At Harvard University: a penalty imposed on a student involving a grade reduction which is communicated to the student's parents or guardian.
    verb
    1. To make (something) openly or widely known; to publicize, to publish.

    Sources

    • Wiktionary (via Wiktextract / kaikki.org) — CC BY-SA 4.0
    • Wiktionary: public