Etymology of the English word public
the English word
publicderived from the Latin word
publicus (public officer; public; common, of the people)
derived from the Classical Latin word
populus (members of a society, sex; region; people, nation, State; poplar tree)
Date
The earliest known usage of public in English dates from the 15th century.
Derivations in English
publicize,
publicly,
publicness,
semipublic,
public-houseCognates
Catalan
public, Dutch
publiek, French
public, German
publik, German
Publikum, Italian
pubblico, Latin
publicum, Lithuanian
publika, Norwegian
publikum, Russian
пyбликa, Spanish
publico, Swedish
publik
