# public

> English word · Adjective · IPA /ˈpʌblɪk/ · frequency rank #243

## Definitions
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. Of or pertaining to the human race as a whole; common, universal.
13. Chiefly in make public: of a work: printed or otherwise published.

## 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.

## Easily confused with
- **publish** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/public-vs-publish)
- **publicly** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/public-vs-publicly)
- **pubic** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pubic-vs-public)

## Common misspellings (9)
`pbulic`, `ppublic`, `pubblic`, `pubilc`, `publci`, `publicc`, `publlic`, `pulbic`, `upblic`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/public