public

/ˈpʌblɪk/

//ˈpʌblɪk// adj

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"public" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“public” has 9 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #243. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#243
frequency rank, English
4,417
“P” headwords
9
tracked misspellings
3
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Able to be known or seen by everyone; happening without concealment; open to general view.

Corpus desk

Index EN-public · public · English

public · rank #243 · 9 variants · 3 confusables

  • FREQ-CORE #243
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 3 pairs
  • VAR-MID 9 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,417
  • PHOTO-FINISH looking

Nearest frequency peer: looking (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “public”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “public” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

public vs publish
71% similar
public vs publicly
75% similar
public vs pubic
83% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for public
PropertyValue
Headwordpublic
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/ˈpʌblɪk/
Letters6
Frequency rank#243
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs3
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “public”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).publiclands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “looking” (#242), “top” (#244), “group” (#241). Among 4,417 “P” headwords, “public” is #243. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 9 spelling variants around public (IPA /ˈpʌblɪk/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #243 among 4,417 “P” headwords. Wiktionary lists 13 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for public, with forms such as "pbulic", "ppublic", and "pubblic". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 3 confusable-pair relationships, "publish", "publicly", "pubic", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: 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, p… The correct English form is public, spelled P-U-B-L-I-C.

Definition

  1. 1
    Able to be known or seen by everyone; happening without concealment; open to general view.
  2. 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. 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. 4
    Pertaining to the people as a whole, as opposed to a group of people; concerning the whole community or country.
  5. 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. 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. 7
    Of an object: accessible to the program in general, not only to a class or subclass.
  8. 8
    Pertaining to nations collectively, or to nations regarded as civilized; international, supernational.
  9. 9
    Now chiefly in public spirit and public-spirited: seeking to further the best interests or well-being of the community or nation.
  10. 10
    Now only in public figure: famous, prominent, well-known.
  11. 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. 12
    Of or pertaining to the human race as a whole; common, universal.
  13. 13
    Chiefly in make public: of a work: printed or otherwise published.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how public appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. VVith ſcoffes and ſcornes, and contumelious taunts, / In open Market-place produc't they me, / To be a publique ſpectacle to all: / Here, ſayd they, is the Terror of the French, / The Scar-Crovv that affrights our Children ſo.
  2. [T]he Apoſtles preached as vvell vvhen they vvrote as vvhen they ſpake the Goſpell of Chriſt, and our vſuall publique reading of the vvord of God for the peoples inſtruction is preaching.

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’). Related to people, populus, etc. The Middle English word displaced native Old English ceorlfolc and folclic. The verb is derived from the adjective.

Antonyms

nonpublicprivateunpublic

This word in other languages

público(Español)public(Français)öffentlich(Deutsch)público(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • pbulic
  • ppublic
  • pubblic
  • pubilc
  • publci
  • publicc
  • publlic
  • pulbic
  • upblic

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of public - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

pbulic2ppublic1pubblic1pubilc2publci2publicc1publlic1pulbic2
Edit distance from "public"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "public"?
"public" is spelled P-U-B-L-I-C. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈpʌblɪk/.
What does "public" mean?
As an adjective, "public" means: Able to be known or seen by everyone; happening without concealment; open to general view.
What words are commonly confused with "public"?
"public" is commonly confused with "publish", "publicly", "pubic". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "public"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "public" is /ˈpʌblɪk/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "public"?
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,... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "public", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

system#249having#233called#231person#257

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).

getting9 variantschange9 variantsmaking9 variantsnumber9 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list