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Webster 1913 Edition


Public

Pub′lic

,
Adj.
[L.
publicus
,
poblicus
, fr.
populus
people: cf. F.
public
. See
People
.]
1.
Of or pertaining to the people; belonging to the people; relating to, or affecting, a nation, state, or community; – opposed to
private
;
as, the
public
treasury
.
To the
public
good
Private respects must yield.
Milton.
He [Alexander Hamilton] touched the dead corpse of the
public
credit, and it sprung upon its feet.
D. Webster.
2.
Open to the knowledge or view of all; general; common; notorious;
as,
public
report;
public
scandal.
Joseph, . . . not willing to make her a
public
example, was minded to put her away privily.
Matt. i. 19.
3.
Open to common or general use;
as, a
public
road; a
public
house.
“The public street.”
Shak.
public act
or
public statute
(Law)
,
an act or statute affecting matters of public concern. Of such statutes the courts take judicial notice.
Public credit
.
See under
Credit
.
Public funds
.
See
Fund
, 3.
Public house
,
an inn, or house of entertainment.
Public law
.
(a)
See
International law
, under
International
.
(b)
A public act or statute.
Public nuisance
.
(Law)
See under
Nuisance
.
Public orator
.
(Eng. Universities)
See
Orator
, 3.
Public stores
,
military and naval stores, equipments, etc.
Public works
,
all fixed works built by civil engineers for public use, as railways, docks, canals, etc.; but strictly, military and civil engineering works constructed at the public cost.

Pub′lic

,
Noun.
1.
The general body of mankind, or of a nation, state, or community; the people, indefinitely;
as, the American
public
; also, a particular body or aggregation of people;
as, an author’s
public
.
The
public
is more disposed to censure than to praise.
Addison.
2.
A public house; an inn.
[Scot.]
Sir W. Scott.
In public
,
openly; before an audience or the people at large; not in private or secrecy.
“We are to speak in public.”
Shak.

Webster 1828 Edition


Public

PUB'LIC

,
Adj.
[L.publicus, from the root of populus, people; that is, people-like.]
1.
Pertaining to a nation, state or community; extending to a whole people; as a public law, which binds the people of a nation or state, as opposed to a private statute or resolve, which respects an individual or a corporation only. Thus we say, public welfare, public good, public calamity, public service, public property.
2.
Common to many; current or circulated among people of all classes; general; as public report; public scandal.
3.
Open; notorious; exposed to all persons without restriction.
Joseph her husband being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily. Matt.1.
4.
Regarding the community; directed to the interest of a nation, state or community; as public spirit; public mindedness; opposed to private or selfish.
5.
Open for general entertainment; as a public house.
6.
Open to common use; as a public road.
7.
In general, public expresses something common to mankind at large, to a nation, state, city or town, and is opposed to private, which denotes what belongs to an individual, to a family, to a company or corporation.
Public law, is often synonymous with the law of nations.

PUB'LIC

,
Noun.
The general body of mankind or of a nation, state or community; the people, indefinitely.
The public is more disposed to censure than to praise.
In this passage, public is followed by a verb in the singular number; but being a noun of multitude, it is more generally followed by a plural verb; the public are.
In public, in open view; before the people at large; not in private or secrecy.
In private grieve, but with a careless scorn,
In public seem to triumph, not to mourn.

Definition 2024


públic

públic

See also: public

Catalan

Adjective

públic m (feminine pública, masculine plural públics, feminine plural públiques)

  1. public