1. (a.) Of or pertaining to the people; belonging to the people; relating to, or affecting, a nation, state, or community; -- opposed to private; as, the public treasury.

2. (a.) Open to the knowledge or view of all; general; common; notorious; as, public report; public scandal.

3. (a.) Open to common or general use; as, a public road; a public house.

4. (n.) The general body of mankind, or of a nation, state, or community; the people, indefinitely; as, the American public; also, a particular body or aggregation of people; as, an author's public.

5. (n.) A public house; an inn.

Cockney Everyman John Smith Public average bourgeois common man common run commoner everyman everywoman generality girl next door homme moyen sensuel little fellow little man ordinary Joe ordinary run pleb plebeian proletarian roturier ruck run