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Glite Dictionary
🏛️ Government-owned land 💻 Open class member
public property

public property

21 2.8
Property owned by the government that people can use
  • noun
  • /ˈpʌblɪk ˈprɒpərti/
: propiedad pública
  • The park is considered public property, so anyone can use it freely.
  • private and public property
  • display on public property
  • religious symbols on public property

Is the smallpox virus sequence in public public property now?

Examples

  • I asked Officer Jakes who would own a treasure if it was found on public property.

    Rogue Saints (2012)

  • Actually, I don't think that there will, because this is a sidewalk, which is public property.

    God's Not Dead 2 (2016)

  • Actually, this is public property.

    Eddington (2025)

  • And this vehicle is on public property.

    Volcano (1997)

  • Oh, once it's out on the street ready for pickup, it's public property.

    I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry (2007)

  • So it is with signs and symbols left to speak for themselves on public property.

    Academic text (1995)

  • Yeah, it's on public property - and the city's making him move it.

    Charlie Wilson's War (2007)

  • Most of the best books are already public property and available on Project Gutenberg.

    Blog text (28)

  • The very fact that a sign is installed on public property implies official recognition and reinforcement of its message.

    Academic text (1995)

  • Documents also showed flagrant mismanagement of government resources and theft of public property.

    Academic text (1998)

Synonyms

publicum
vspublic property
  • Archaic
9.9

Land or resources owned by the state that people can use

is the general English term for government-owned property used broadly outside Latin legal texts

Antonyms

private property
36 2.8

Things you can move, like cars or jewelry, that belong to one person, not land

How Public

national
851 2.7
state government
  • US
129 2.4
public property
21 2.8
municipal
112 4.2

Surface Forms

public property singular
public properties plural

Morphology

public + property

The phrase combines 'public' (accessible to everyone) with 'property' (an attribute or feature) so a learner who knows those words can infer it means an attribute that is accessible externally — which matches the programming sense. While detailed behavior in programming (get/set accessors, class/member distinctions) is domain-specific, the core compositional meaning is directly derivable from the constituents.

Etymology

Public property is what it sounds like: things the public can use, such as a park or library owned by the town. Think of a playground with a city sign—because it is not private but for 'the public', the phrase means 'property owned by the government and open to all'.