public

public · adjective, noun, verb¹

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*pleh₁-“to fill”
2. Proto-Italic · derived from*poplos“army”
3. Latin · derived frompūblicus“of or belonging to the community, people, or state; general, public”
4. Old French · derived frompublic“(adjective) generally observable, public; relating to the general public; official; (noun) community or its members collectively; nation, state; audience, spectators collectively”
5. Middle French · derived frompublic
6. Anglo-Norman · derived frompublic
7. Middle English · inherited frompublik
8. English todaypublic

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.

public · noun²

1. English · derived frompublic
2. Ukrainian · semantic loan fromпа́блік“public webpage on a blog or on social media”
3. Russian · semantic loan fromпа́блик
4. English todaypublic

Semantic loan from Russian па́блик (páblik) and Ukrainian па́блік (páblik, “public webpage on a blog or on social media”), both borrowed from English public: see etymology 1.

Words from the same roots

First known use, by meaning

• from 14th c. Able to be known or seen by everyone; happening without concealment; open to general view.
• from 15th c. 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.
• from 15th c. Of a company: having shares of stock traded publicly, for example, through a stock market.
• from 15th c. Pertaining to the people as a whole, as opposed to a group of people; concerning the whole community or country.
• from 15th c. Officially representing the community; carried out or funded by the government or state on behalf of the community, rather than by a private organization.