What is the definition of the term public?

Answer 1

As an adjective, "Pertaining to the people." "People" may mean the general population, as in "public enemy," "public nuisance," "public thoroughfare or right of way," "public interest," "public health," "public protest," "public restroom," "public scorn" (not contempt of the people, but a widespread or general contempt by them). It may, however, be restricted to a special sector of the population, especially when used in contrast to "private." Hence, while in Scotland or the USA, a "public school" is one provided for the children of the population at large, in England, it denotes a school open to the children of the upper middle class, as opposed to a "private school" to educate the children of a wealthy nobleman at home, in his own private residence, with the implication of course that the well to do are the only "public", the only people who matter. "To make public" is to make generally known or available, to publish. England has the peculiar institution of the "public house," or "pub" which is a commercially run social (and drinking) center which is sometimes divided into a "private bar" for the those prepared to pay more for their drinks to avoid the company of the lower classes in the "public bar," using "public" in precisely the opposite sense (the less well off among the general population) to its meaning in the English "public school." An often used definition of an English public school is "any school in the British Isles, whether boarding or day, whose headmaster is a member of the Headmaster's Conference" (a private, self-perpetuating corporation with its own semi-secret criteria for membership). As a noun, "The Public" is usually identical with "the general population," as in the (usually sarcastic) expression, "The Great British Public." Laurence Hallewell.

Answer 2

open to or shared by all