publican

C2+ Topic:People & Society

US /ˈpʌblɪkən/ UK /ˈpʌblɪkən/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
a person who owns or manages a pub

The publican called last orders just before midnight.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a person who owns or... innkeeper landlord barkeeperlicenseehosttavernkeeper

Word family

Related forms public publish republic

Etymology

From Old French publicain, from Latin publicanus ('a tax collector'), from publicus ('public, belonging to the people'), from populus ('people'); the 'pub-keeper' sense is a later English development from public house.

publicanus Latin publicus Latin populus itc-ola

View etymology graph ->

Topics

People & Society Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# publican

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈpʌblɪkən/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈpʌblɪkən/

## Meanings
1. a person who owns or manages a pub

## Examples
- The publican called last orders just before midnight.

## Synonyms
- innkeeper
- landlord
- barkeeper
- licensee
- host
- tavernkeeper

## Related Forms
- public
- publish
- republic

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: publicanus
- Root: publicus
- Root: populus

## Etymology
From Old French publicain, from Latin publicanus ('a tax collector'), from publicus ('public, belonging to the people'), from populus ('people'); the 'pub-keeper' sense is a later English development from public house.

## AI Etymology
Publican comes from Old French publicain, from Latin publicanus ('a tax collector'), from publicus ('public, belonging to the people'), from populus ('people'); the 'pub-keeper' sense is a later English development from public house. The form is best read as a historical transfer or inheritance, with its older language material carrying the main semantic load. As a noun, it denotes "a person who owns or manages a pub", keeping the historical idea close to its dictionary sense. Relevant historical forms include Latin publicanus, Latin publicus, and Latin populus. Related words include public, publish, republic.

## Topics
- People & Society
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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