Publish Means to Make Public
To publish is to make something available to the public. The word covers books, journals, and anything posted online.
To publish is to make something publicly available. The word is simply *public* with a verb ending, and it has stretched far beyond books: a court judgment is published, a photograph is published, and in defamation law publication can mean showing something to one other person.
- To issue for public sale or reading. *The book was published in May.*
- To make known. *Publish the results.*
- To communicate to another person (legal). *Publication of a defamatory statement.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Verb | publish | Publish the findings. |
| Past | published | Published last year. |
| Noun | publication | A recent publication. |
| Person | publisher | An independent publisher. |
| Noun | publishing | Academic publishing. |
How it is used in a sentence
- The journal publishes twice a year.No object needed.
- Publish or perish.The academic saying about research careers.
- The statement was published to a third party.The legal test in defamation.
Publishing terms
- Imprint — a brand within a publishing house
- Peer review — assessment by other experts before publication
- Open access — freely readable, with costs met elsewhere
- Preprint — a paper posted before peer review
- Embargo — a date before which material may not be published
From Old French *publier*, from Latin *publicare*, to make public, from *publicus*, of the people. English added the -ish ending on the pattern of other French verbs.
What does *publish or perish* mean?
That academic careers depend on a steady output of published research. It is a criticism of how universities measure work.
Does publishing require a large audience?
Not in law. In defamation, communicating a statement to even one other person can count as publication.