publice

Forms

pūblicē ^[1] Inscriptions spell it poplicē and poblicē, and Apuleius puplicē.^[2]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin pūblicus (“public, of the state”) + -ē, the adverb of that adjective.^[2][1] pūblicus was originally ⟨*poplico-⟩, as Old Latin ⟨poplicod⟩ and ⟨poblicai⟩ show, from populus (“people”); its ⟨ū⟩ comes from association with pūbēs (“adult population”).^[3][2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus has is pūblicē lēgātus Naupactum fuit, “he went as an envoy of the state to Naupactus”.^[2] Köbler dates it from Cicero.^[4]

Semantic evolution

Pūblicē is “as a concern of the state, officially, at public expense”, and “as a community, for the whole people” (Terence: haud cito malī quid ortum ex hōc sit pūblicē, “no harm is likely to come of this to the public”).^[2][1] Later it means “for the public, in the public interest”, and in the jurists “in a public place” and “in public, openly”.^[2][1]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus: pūblicē lēgātus.^[2][4]
• 190–159 BC – Terence: ortum … pūblicē.^[2][4]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it.^[4]

Meanings

Adverb

1. In the name of the state, officially, at public expense.^[2][1]
2. As a community, for the whole people.^[2]
3. For the public, in the public interest.^[2]
4. In a public place; in public, publicly.^[2][1]

Related words

• pūblicus
• populus

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de