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public

2 syllables
Quick answer

As an adjective, public means able to be seen or known by everyone. As a noun, it means the people in general, regardless of membership of any particular group.

Meanings of public

10 meanings

adjective

  1. Able to be seen or known by everyone; open to general view, happening without concealment.

  2. Pertaining to the people as a whole (as opposed to a private group); concerning the whole country, community etc.

  3. Officially representing the community; carried out or funded by the state on behalf of the community.

  4. Open to all members of a community; especially, provided by national or local authorities and supported by money from taxes.

  5. of a companyTraded publicly via a stock market.

  6. object-oriented programmingAccessible to the program in general, not only to the class or any subclasses.

noun

  1. The people in general, regardless of membership of any particular group.

    “Members of the public may not proceed beyond this point.”

  2. public relationsA particular group or demographic to be targeted.

  3. A body of people sharing some common interest

    “the reading public”

Older and rare meanings (1)
  1. archaicA public house; an inn.

Meanings from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet (CC BY 4.0).

Synonyms by meaning

noun: people in general considered as a whole
Oppositesprivate

Words that rhyme with public

nonpublic

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