pubblico Italian · revision 37949

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=before 1294, Brunetto Latini|origins=la populus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈpub.bli.ko/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''pubblico''' (feminine pubblica, masculine plural pubblici, feminine plural pubbliche)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old Italian also had the inherited form [[roa-oit|piuvico]], and dialects have forms such as [[vec|pjövego]] and [[nap|prubbeke]].^(DELI 1999)^(REW 1935)^(Wiktionary) The literary spelling is ''publico''.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|pūblicus|t=of the people or the state]], a learned word.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) The popular Old Tuscan form [[roa-oit|piuvico]], recorded in the 13th century, is the inherited doublet.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(REW 1935)^(Wiktionary) The ⟨bb⟩ of the Italian word is the strengthening of a consonant after the stressed vowel in words stressed on the third-last syllable.^(DELI 1999)^(Devoto 1968) [[fr|public]] and [[es|público]] are the same learned word.^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ The Latin adjective was originally the older form [[m|la|poplicus]], derived from [[m|la|populus|t=people]], and took its long vowel from [[m|la|pūbēs|t=adult population]], with which it was associated.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Devoto 1968) De Vaan derives [[m|la|populus]] from [[itc-pro|*poplo-|t=army]], whose origin is unknown.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ Several modern phrases are calques: the terms for public law and public order copy [[fr|droit public]] (1786) and [[m|fr|ordre public]] (1764–1765), and the term for public relations copies [[m|en|public relations]].^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The inherited form ''piuvico'' is recorded in Fra Guidotto between 1254 and 1266, and ''pubblico'' in Brunetto Latini (before 1294), for what concerns a whole community.^(DELI 1999) His ''Rettorica'' explains that public questions are those that deal with the welfare of a city or a community of people.^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Boccaccio uses the adjective in 1353 for what everyone knows and judges, as in ''pubblico scandalo''.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) As a noun, ''il pubblico'' first meant the state or the commune, as in Machiavelli and Vincenzo Borghini, then the people in general.^(DEI|3137)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861) Daniello Bartoli in 1659 used it for a crowd, and in the 18th century it came to mean the readers of a book or the audience of a show, a sense DELI dates to Lorenzo Pascoli (1730–1736) and DEI compares with French ''public''.^(DEI|3137)^(DELI 1999)

+

+ Many derivatives came through French: ''pubblicità'' “publicity, advertising” and ''pubblicista'' “journalist”.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) The verb ''pubblicare'' “to make public” goes back to the first half of the 13th century, and in Boccaccio already means “to publish” a written work.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1254–1266 – Fra Guidotto uses the inherited form ''piuvico''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1294 – Brunetto Latini uses ''pubblico''.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * 1353 – Boccaccio uses it for what is known to everyone.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1659 – Daniello Bartoli uses the noun for a crowd.^(DEI|3137)

+ * 1730–1736 – Lorenzo Pascoli uses the noun for the public as a body of people.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1786 – French ''droit public'' gives Italian ''diritto pubblico''.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|public]]: concerning the whole community: ''l'interesse pubblico'', ''la salute pubblica''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # Of the state or a public body, as opposed to private: ''la scuola pubblica'', ''un pubblico ufficiale''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # Open to everyone, belonging to the community: ''un giardino pubblico'', ''trasporti pubblici''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # Done in front of everyone; known to all: ''una lettura pubblica'', ''di pubblico dominio''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # The public, people in general: ''Il museo è aperto al pubblico la domenica'', ''in pubblico'', in front of other people.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # An [[m|en|audience]], the spectators, listeners or readers: ''Il pubblico ha applaudito a lungo.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(archaic)'' The state treasury, public property.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[pubblicare]]

+ * [[pubblicazione]]

+ * [[pubblicità]]

+ * [[pubblicitario]]

+ * [[pubblicista]]

+ * [[pubblicano]]

+ * [[pubblicamente]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[piuvico]]

+ * [[popolo]]

+ * [[pube]]

+ * [[la|pūblicus]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Common phrases include ''opinione pubblica'', ''ordine pubblico'', ''Pubblico Ministero'' (the public prosecutor) and ''pubblica amministrazione''.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}