Etymologically
Log in

public

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 14 October 2026 at 22:04. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈpʌb.lɪk/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English publik, borrowed from Old French public and directly borrowed from Latin pūblicus (“of the people; of the state”),[2][3][4] an alteration, influenced by pūbēs (“the adult population; adult”), of Old Latin poplicus (“of the people”),[3][5][6] from populus (“people”),[2][7] which the American Heritage Dictionary considers of Etruscan origin.[5] The spelling public began to appear in the 1600s as a return to the Latin form and became usual in the early 1800s.[3] The same Latin word is behind publish and republic, and is related to people.[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Open to general observation or knowledge (1394, as pupplik).[9][10]

Semantic evolution

The sense “of or concerning the people as a whole” followed in 1427,[9][10] and “open to all in the community” in the 1540s;[2] Old English had used folclic in this sense.[2] The noun meaning “the community, the nation” is first recorded in the King James Bible of 1611,[3][11] and the meaning “people in general” in 1665.[9][2] A public school was an endowed private school in 1580 but a free, tax-funded school in 1636,[9] which is why the term means a fee-paying school in England and a state school in North America.[8] Public house dates from the early 17th century, and its shortening pub from about 1800 according to the Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins;[8] Hendrickson dates pub from 1865.[12] Public opinion is from 1781.[9]

Timeline

  • 1394 – pupplik, open to general observation.[9]
  • 1427 – of or concerning the people as a whole.[9][10]
  • c. 1500 – in public.[2]
  • 1540s – open to all in the community.[2]
  • 1580 – public school, an endowed school.[9]
  • 1611 – (noun) the community, the nation.[3]
  • 1614 – public library.[3]
  • 1665 – (noun) people in general.[9]
  • 1781 – public opinion.[9]
  • 1865 – pub, short for public house.[12]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Of or concerning the people as a whole: public opinion.
  2. Open to or used by everyone: a public library.
  3. Provided by the state rather than by a private company: public services.
  4. Done or existing openly: a public protest.
  5. Well known; involved in the affairs of the community: a public figure.
  6. Of a company, having shares that can be traded on the open market.

Noun

  1. The people as a whole; the community.
  2. A group of people with a common interest: the reading public.
  3. The admirers or followers of a famous person.

Word family

  • publicness
  • John Q. Public
  • people
  • population
  • pub
  • publican
  • publication
  • publicise
  • publicize
  • publicist
  • publicity
  • publish
  • republic
  • popular

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  6. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  8. ^ a b c Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  10. ^ a b c Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
  11. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
  12. ^ a b Hendrickson, Robert (2008), The Facts on File Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins, 4th ed., New York: Facts on File