noun · 5 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
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Received-Pronunciation:/ˌpʌblɪk də(ʊ)ˈmeɪn/
General-American:/ˌpʌblɪk doʊˈmeɪn/
US:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
rhymes with -eɪn
1
noun
Meaning 1
Often preceded by in the.
The state of not being owned by anyone, and thus freely usable by everyone.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: also, attributive, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
Often preceded by in the.
The state of not being owned by anyone, and thus freely usable by everyone.
The realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents, and thus over which no person can establish a proprietary interest.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
As the copyright in this book has lapsed, it is now in the public domain.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
Often preceded by in the.
The state of not or no longer being confidential or secret.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: also, attributive, uncountable
Examples
Very little information about the treaty is in the public domain.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
4
noun
Meaning 4
Land regarded as owned by the public, and not subject to a land patent or other forms of private ownership (for example, unowned prairie in the southwestern and western United States).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: US, especially, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
5
noun
Meaning 5
property rights that are held by the public at large
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: property right
History
Etymology
From public (“able to be seen or known by everyone”) + domain (“field or sphere of activity, expertise, or influence”).
Across languages
Translations
104 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Bulgarian:
обществено достояние
(obštestveno dostojanie)
— state of not being owned by anyone, and thus freely usable by everyone
Chinese Mandarin:
公有的
(gòngyǒude)
— state of not being owned by anyone, and thus freely usable by everyone
Polish:
domena publiczna
— state of not being owned by anyone, and thus freely usable by everyone
Swahili:
uwanja wa umma
— state of not being owned by anyone, and thus freely usable by everyone
Afrikaans:
publieke domein
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
Afrikaans:
openbare besit
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
Arabic:
ملكية عامة
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
Armenian:
հանրության սեփականություն
(hanrutʻyan sepʻakanutʻyun)
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
Assamese:
ৰাজহুৱা ক্ষেত্ৰ
(razohua khetro)
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
Asturian:
dominiu públicu
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
Azerbaijani:
ictimai mülkiyyət
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
Azerbaijani:
ictimai varidat
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
Basque:
jabari publikoa
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
Belarusian:
грамадcкі набытак
(hramadcki nabytak)
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
Bengali:
পাবলিক ডোমেইন
(pabolik ḍōmein)
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
Bulgarian:
обществено достояние
(obštestveno dostojanie)
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
Catalan:
domini públic
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
Chinese Mandarin:
公共領域 /公共领域
(gōnggòng lǐngyù)
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
Chinese Mandarin:
公共域
(gōnggòngyù)
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
Chinese Mandarin:
公有領域 /公有领域
(gōngyǒu lǐngyù)
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
Danish:
public domain
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
Danish:
offentligt domæne
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
Dutch:
publiek domein
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
Esperanto:
publika havaĵo
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
Esperanto:
publikaĵo
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
Esperanto:
publikhavaĵo
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
Estonian:
avalik omand
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
Finnish:
tekijänoikeuksista vapaa sisältö
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
Finnish:
vapaus tekijänoikeuksista
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
Finnish:
tekijänoikeudettomuus
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
Finnish:
tekijänoikeusvapaus
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
Finnish:
tekijänoikeuksista vapaa
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
Finnish:
tekijänoikeudeton
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
French:
domaine public
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
Galician:
dominio público
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
Georgian:
საყოველთაო საკუთრება
(saq̇oveltao saḳutreba)
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
German:
Public Domain
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
German:
Gemeinfreiheit
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
German:
gemeinfrei
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
Greek:
κοινό κτήμα
(koinó ktíma)
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
Gujarati:
પબ્લિક ડોમેન
(pablik ḍomen)
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
Hebrew:
רשות הציבור
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
Hindi:
सार्वजनिक डोमेन
(sārvajnik ḍomen)
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
Hungarian:
ingyenes
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
Hungarian:
közkincs
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
Hungarian:
közkincsbe/közkincshez tartozó
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
Hungarian:
szabad felhasználás
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
Hungarian:
szabad
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
Hungarian:
szabad felhasználású
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
Hungarian:
szabadon felhasználható/használható/terjeszthető
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
Icelandic:
almenningur
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
Ido:
publika domeno
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
Indonesian:
domain publik
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
Indonesian:
ranah umum
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
Interlingua:
dominio public
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
Irish:
an fearann poiblí
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
Italian:
pubblico dominio
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
Japanese:
パブリックドメイン
(paburikkudomein)
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
Korean:
퍼블릭 도메인
(peobeullik domein)
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
Lao:
ສາທາລະນະສົມບັດ
(sā thā la na som bat)
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
Latvian:
neaizsargājams darbs
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
Limburgish:
public domain
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
Limburgish:
publiek domein
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
Lithuanian:
viešo naudojimo
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
Luxembourgish:
domaine public
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
Macedonian:
јавен домен
(javen domen)
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
Macedonian:
јавна сопственост
(javna sopstvenost)
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
Malay:
domain awam
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
Malayalam:
പൊതുസഞ്ചയം
(potusañcayaṁ)
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
Marathi:
सार्वजनिक अधिक्षेत्र
(sārvajnik adhikṣetra)
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
Norwegian Bokmål:
offentlig eiendom
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
Norwegian Nynorsk:
offentleg eigedom
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
Occitan:
domeni public
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
Persian:
مالکیت عمومی
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
Polish:
domena publiczna
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
Polish:
własność publiczna
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
Portuguese:
domínio público
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
Romanian:
domeniu public
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
Russian:
обще́ственное достоя́ние
(obščéstvennoje dostojánije)
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
Russian:
всео́бщее достоя́ние
(vseóbščeje dostojánije)
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
Serbo-Croatian:
ја̑вно вла̑снӣштво
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
Serbo-Croatian:
jȃvno vlȃsnīštvo
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
Slovene:
javna last
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
Spanish:
dominio público
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
Swahili:
uwanja wa umma
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
Swedish:
allmän egendom
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
Tagalog:
public domain
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
Tagalog:
pampublikong dominyo
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
Tamil:
பொது உரிமைப் பரப்பு
(potu urimaip parappu)
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
Telugu:
ప్రజోపయోగ పరిధి
(prajōpayōga paridhi)
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
Thai:
สาธารณสมบัติ
(sǎa-taa-rá-ná-sǒm-bàt)
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
Turkish:
kamusal alan
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
Ukrainian:
суспільне надбання
(suspilʹne nadbannja)
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
Urdu:
دائرہ عام
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
Uzbek:
ijtimoiy mulk
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
Vietnamese:
phạm vi công cộng
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
Welsh:
parth cyhoeddus
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
Zazaki:
malê şari
— realm of intellectual property which is not or no longer protected by copyrights or patents
Polish:
domena publiczna
— state of not or no longer being confidential or secret
Chinese Mandarin:
公地
(gōngdì)
— land regarded as owned by the public, and not subject to a land patent or other forms of private ownership
Chinese Mandarin:
公有土地
(gōngyǒu tǔdì)
— land regarded as owned by the public, and not subject to a land patent or other forms of private ownership
Finnish:
yhteismaa
— land regarded as owned by the public, and not subject to a land patent or other forms of private ownership
Finnish:
julkinen maa
— land regarded as owned by the public, and not subject to a land patent or other forms of private ownership
Polish:
własność publiczna
— land regarded as owned by the public, and not subject to a land patent or other forms of private ownership