different between city vs public

English

Alternative forms

• cyte (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English city, citie, citee, cite, from Old French cité, from Latin c?vit?s (“citizenry; community; a city with its hinterland”), from c?vis (“native; townsman; citizen”), from Proto-Indo-European *?ey- (“to lie down, settle; home, family; love; beloved”).

Cognate with Old English h?wan pl (“members of one's household, servants”). See hewe. Doublet of civitas.

Displaced native Middle English burgh, borough (“fortified town; incorporated city”) and sted, stede (“place, stead; city”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?s?ti/
• (Northern England) IPA^(key): /s?t?/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?s??i/
• Rhymes: -?ti
• Hyphenation: ci?ty

Noun

city (plural cities)

1. A large settlement, bigger than a town; sometimes with a specific legal definition, depending on the place.

   • So this was my future home, I thought! […] Backed by towering hills, the but faintly discernible purple line of the French boundary off to the southwest, a sky of palest Gobelin flecked with fat, fleecy little clouds, it in truth looked a dear little city; the city of one's dreams.
2. (Britain) A settlement granted special status by royal charter or letters patent; traditionally, a settlement with a cathedral regardless of size.
   • 1976, Cornelius P. Darcy, The Encouragement of the Fine Arts in Lancashire, 1760-1860, Manchester University Press (?ISBN), page 20

     Manchester, incorporated in 1838, was made the centre of a bishopric in 1847 and became a city in 1853. Liverpool was transformed into a city by Royal Charter when the new diocese of Liverpool was created in 1880.

   • 2014, Graham Rutt, Cycling Britain's Cathedrals Volume 1, Lulu.com (?ISBN), page 307

     St Davids itself is the smallest city in Great Britain, with a population of less than 2,000.

3. (Australia) The central business district; downtown.

4. (slang) A large amount of something (used after the noun).

   It's video game city in here!

Hypernyms

• settlement

Derived terms

Pages starting with “city”.

Related terms

• civic
• civil

Descendants

• ? French: City
• ? German: City
• ? Italian: city
• ? Swedish: city

Translations

See also

• metropolis
• megalopolis
• megacity
• multicity

Further reading

• "city" in Raymond Williams, Keywords (revised), 1983, Fontana Press, page 55.

Anagrams

• ICTY

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [?t?s?t?]

Noun

city

1. nominative/accusative/vocative/instrumental plural of cit

Italian

Etymology

Borrowed from English city. Doublet of città.

Noun

city f (invariable)

1. city (financial district of a city)

Derived terms

• city bike
• city car
• city manager

Swedish

Etymology

Borrowed from English city.

Pronunciation

Noun

city n

1. inner city, the commercial centre of a medium-sized or larger city

   Lite närmare city, i närheten av konstmuseet, ligger Norrköpings mest attraktiva lägenheter.

   A little closer to the town centre, next to the art museum, you'll find Norrköping's most attractive apartments.

   Det finns mycket att förbättra i vårt city.

   There are many things that need improvement in our inner city.

Usage notes

• centrum is used for the commercial centre of suburbs and small or medium-sized towns.

Synonyms

• centrum
• innerstad

English

Alternative forms

• publick, publicke, publike, publique (all obsolete)

Etymology

From Anglo-Norman publik, public, Middle French public, publique et al., and their source, Latin p?blicus (“pertaining to the people”). Compare people.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?p?bl?k/
• Hyphenation: pub?lic

Adjective

public (comparative more public, superlative most public)

1. Able to be seen or known by everyone; open to general view, happening without concealment. [from 14th c.]
2. Pertaining to the people as a whole (as opposed to a private group); concerning the whole country, community etc. [from 15th c.]
   • 2010, Adam Vaughan, The Guardian, 16 Sep 2010:

     A mere 3% of the more than 1,000 people interviewed said they actually knew what the conference was about. It seems safe to say public awareness of the Convention on Biological Awareness in Nagoya - and its goal of safeguarding wildlife - is close to non-existent.
3. Officially representing the community; carried out or funded by the state on behalf of the community. [from 15th c.]
   • 2004, The Guardian, Leader, 18 Jun 2004:

     But culture's total budget is a tiny proportion of all public spending; it is one of the government's most visible success stories.

4. Open to all members of a community; especially, provided by national or local authorities and supported by money from taxes. [from 15th c.]
   • 2011, David Smith, The Guardian, 10 May 2011:

     Some are left for dead on rubbish tips, in refuge bags or at public toilets.
5. (of a company) Traded publicly via a stock market.
6. (not comparable, object-oriented programming) Accessible to the program in general, not only to the class or any subclasses.

Antonyms

• private

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Noun

public (plural publics)

1. The people in general, regardless of membership of any particular group.
   • 2007 May 4, Martin Jacques, The Guardian

     Bush and Blair stand condemned by their own publics and face imminent political extinction.

2. (public relations) A particular group or demographic to be targeted.
   • 2005, Donald Treadwell, ?Jill B. Treadwell, Public Relations Writing: Principles in Practice (page 19)

     To the extent that you will use them to reach many other publics, the news media will also be one of your publics.

3. (archaic) A public house; an inn.

Derived terms

• antipublic
• general public
• Joe Public
• John Q. Public
• member of the public
• public relations
• public-spirited

Translations

References

• public at OneLook Dictionary Search
• public in Keywords for Today: A 21st Century Vocabulary, edited by The Keywords Project, Colin MacCabe, Holly Yanacek, 2018.
• public in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• public in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /py.blik/

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Latin publicus.

Adjective

public (feminine singular publique, masculine plural publics, feminine plural publiques)

1. public

Derived terms

Etymology 2

Noun use of public (compare Latin publicum).

Noun

public m (plural publics)

1. public (people in general)
2. audience

   Il devait plaire à son public.

   He had to please his audience

Further reading

• “public” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Ladin

Adjective

public m pl

1. plural of publich

Occitan

Etymology

From Latin publicus.

Pronunciation

Adjective

public m (feminine singular publica, masculine plural publics, feminine plural publicas)

1. public

   Antonym: privat

Derived terms

• publicament

Noun

public m (plural publics)

1. public, audience

Old French

Alternative forms

• publik
• publiq
• publique

Adjective

public m (oblique and nominative feminine singular publique)

1. public (not private; available to the general populace)

Derived terms

• en public

References

• publik on the Anglo-Norman On-Line Hub

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French public < Latin publicus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?pu.blik/

Adjective

public m or n (feminine singular public?, masculine plural publici, feminine and neuter plural publice)

1. public

Noun

public n (plural publice)

1. the public