public spiritedness

The quality or state of being public spirited; a public spirit; a willingne to make private sacrifices in order to promote the public interests and welfare. "The spirit of charity, the old word for public -spiritedne ." Whitlock: Manners of the English. public-works, s . pl . Fixed or permanent works executed by civil engineers for public use, as railways, canals, docks, .; more strictly, military or civil engineering works executed at the public cost. pub-lic-an, *pup-plic-an, subst . [Latin pub licanus =a farmer of the public revenue, from pub licanus pertaining to the public revenue, from public us =public (q. v.); Sp. & Port. public a no ; Ital. pubblicano .] 1. Rom . Antiq .: A collector of the revenues, or farmer of the taxes consisting of tolls, tithes, harbor-duties, duties for the use of pasture-lands, mines, salt-works, ., in Roman provinces. From the nature of their office, and the oppre ive exac tions of many of their number, these officials were generally regarded by the inhabitants with detestation and contempt. ( Matt . ix. 10.) *2. A collector of toll, tribute, customs, or the like. "How like a fawning publican he looks." Shakesp.: Merchant of Venice , i. 3. 3. An innkeeper. *pub-li-cāte, v . t . [Lat. public at us , pa. par. of publico to publish (q. v.).] To publish, to make publicly known. "Little sins, if public a ted , grow great by their scand all."- Gauden : Tears of the Church, p. 115. pub-li-ca-tion, s . [Fr., from Lat. publicationem , acc us. of publicatio , from public at us [PUBLIC ATE]; public us = public (q. v.); Sp. public a cion ; Ital. pub blicazione .] 1. The act of publishing, or making known pub licly; the act of notifying to the world, by words, writing, or printing; proclamation, promulgation; divulgation, notification. "The communication of a libel to any one person is a publication in the eye of the law."- Black stone : Comment., bk. iv., ch. 2. 2. Specif .: The act of offering a book, map, print, or other literary or musical composition to the public by sale or by gratuitous distribution, or by printing in a newspaper, journal, . "[The letters] were written without thought of public a tion." R. Disraeli: Lord Beacons field's Correspondence. (Introd.) 3. A work printed and published; a book, pamphlet, ., printed and offered for sale, or to public notice. püb-li-çist, s . [Fr. public i ste ; Ital. publicist a .] 1. A writer on the laws of nature and nations; one who writes or treats on, or is versed in public or international law. "The arguments that the ingenuity of publicists could devise." -Macaulay: Hist. Eng., ch. xxiii. 2. One who writes on current, social, or political topics, espec. in magazines, reviews, .; a jour nalist. "An international commi ion, to consist of three authors, three publishers, and three publicists . " -Scribner's Magazine , May, 1880, p. 138.