Meanings
- uncountableThe science and practice of community hygiene, which includes preventive healthcare, health education, sanitation and environmental safety.
My parents are both in public health now. They both work at the Tucson AIDS Project. I've got a sister who's a nurse, another one who works in a hospital, […]
1989 April 15, Eileen Bolinsky, Wendy Bennet-Alder, “I'm Slowly Getting To The Anger”, in Gay Community News, page 92 more examples
Every town the size of Maycomb had families like the Ewells. No economic fluctuations changed their status—people like the Ewells lived as guests of the county in prosperity as well as in the depths of a depression. No truant officers could keep their numerous offspring in school; no public health officer could free them from congenital defects, various worms, and the diseases indigenous to filthy surroundings.
1960 July 11, Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, Philadelphia, Pa.; New York, N.Y.: J[oshua] B[allinger] Lippincott Company, →OCLCPollution was no longer considered an isolated problem to be hashed out between individuals. Instead, it was treated as a menace to public health and the economy.
2025 September 11, Kate Marvel, “‘We’ve done it before’: how not to lose hope in the fight against ecological disaster”, in The Guardian
Translations
Arabic الصِّحَّة العَامَّة
- الصِّحَّة العَامَّةscience
Chinese Mandarin 公共衛生 /公共卫生
- 公共衛生 /公共卫生 (gōnggòng wèishēng)science
Danish folkesundhedsvidenskab
- folkesundhedsvidenskabscience
Finnish kansanterveys
- kansanterveysscience
French santé publique
- santé publiquescience
Hungarian közegészségügy
- közegészségügyscience
Indonesian kesehatan masyarakat
- kesehatan masyarakatscience
Latin salus publica
- salus publicascience
Malay kesihatan awam
- kesihatan awamscience
Polish zdrowie publiczne
- zdrowie publicznescience
Portuguese saúde pública
- saúde públicascience
Spanish salud pública
- salud públicascience
Swedish folkhälsa
- folkhälsascience
Turkish halk sağlığı
- halk sağlığıscience
Yiddish פֿאָלקסגעזונט
- פֿאָלקסגעזונט (folksgezunt)science
Cite this entry
public health. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/public%20health
“public health.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/public%20health. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “public health,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/public%20health.
Source: public health on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.