Meanings
nounpublic good (countable and uncountable, plural public goods)
plural public goods
- broadlycountableA resource, service, or other provision which contributes to the general welfare of the people.
I heartily agree with Deresiewicz that high-quality postsecondary education is a public good which should be accessible to any citizen who can profit from it.
2014 September 5, Steven Pinker, “The Trouble With Harvard”, in The New Republic, archived from the original on 08 Feb 2015 - countableeconomicsA good that is non-rivalrous and non-excludable.
Synonyms & antonyms
Also see
Translations
Catalan interès general, bé públic
- interès generalwelfare of the people
- bé públicgood that is non-rivalrous and non-excludable
Chinese Mandarin 公益, 公共物品
- 公益 (gōngyì)welfare of the people
- 公共物品 (gōnggòng wùpǐn)good that is non-rivalrous and non-excludable
Danish fælles bedste, offentligt gode
- fælles bedstewelfare of the people
- offentligt godegood that is non-rivalrous and non-excludable
Dutch publiek belang, publiek goed
- publiek belangwelfare of the people
- publiek goedgood that is non-rivalrous and non-excludable
Finnish yleinen hyvä, julkishyödyke
- yleinen hyväwelfare of the people
- julkishyödykegood that is non-rivalrous and non-excludable
- julkinen hyödykegood that is non-rivalrous and non-excludable
French intérêt général, bien public
- intérêt généralwelfare of the people
- bien publicgood that is non-rivalrous and non-excludable
German Allgemeinwohl, Gemeinwohl
- Allgemeinwohlwelfare of the people
- Gemeinwohlwelfare of the people
- öffentliches Gutgood that is non-rivalrous and non-excludable
Hungarian közjó, közjószág
- közjówelfare of the people
- közjószággood that is non-rivalrous and non-excludable
Indonesian kebaikan bersama
- kebaikan bersamawelfare of the people
Korean 공익, 공공재
- 공익 (gong'ik)welfare of the people
- 공공재 (gonggongjae)good that is non-rivalrous and non-excludable
Polish dobro publiczne, dobro publiczne
- dobro publicznewelfare of the people
- dobro publicznegood that is non-rivalrous and non-excludable
Spanish bien público, bien público
- bien públicowelfare of the people
- bien públicogood that is non-rivalrous and non-excludable
Welsh lles cyffredin, lles cyffredin
- lles cyffredinwelfare of the people
- lles cyffredingood that is non-rivalrous and non-excludable
Cite this entry
APA
public good. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/public%20good
MLA
“public good.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/public%20good. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “public good,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/public%20good.
Source: public good on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.