offentlig

Danish

Etymology

Borrowed from German öffentlich (“public”) (earlier also written offentlich), from Old High German offanlīh (“open, public”) derived from offan (“open”) +‎ -lich. The first part is Proto-Germanic *upanaz, cf. Danish åben, English open.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɔfəntli/, [ˈʌfn̩d̥li], [ˈʌfn̩li]

Adjective

offentlig (neuter offentligt, plural and definite singular attributive offentlige)

1. public

Inflection

Inflection of offentlig

	positive	comparative	superlative
indefinite common singular	offentlig	—	—2
indefinite neuter singular	offentligt	—	—2
plural	offentlige	—	—2
definite attributive1	offentlige	—	—

¹ When an adjective is applied predicatively to something definite,
the corresponding "indefinite" form is used.
² The "indefinite" superlatives may not be used attributively.

Derived terms

• halvoffentlig
• offentlig person
• offentliggøre
• offentlighed

References

• “offentlig” in Den Danske Ordbog

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From German öffentlich.

Adjective

offentlig (neuter singular offentlig, definite singular and plural offentlige)

1. public

Derived terms

• offentliggjøre
• offentlighet

See also

• offentleg (Nynorsk)

References

• “offentlig” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Swedish

Etymology

From German öffentlich, from Middle High German offen, Old High German offan, ofan, ophan, from Proto-Germanic *upanaz. Cognate with Swedish öppen.

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

offentlig

1. public (open or available to the public)

   Antonyms: (private (of private entities or individuals)) enskild, (private) privat, (secret) hemlig

   ett offentligt bibliotek ― a public library

   en offentlig toalett ― a public toilet

   en offentlig konsert ― a public concert

   en offentlig avrättning ― a public execution

   offentlig konst ― public art

   en offentlig handling ― a public document

   Uppgifterna är inte offentliga

   The information is not public

   (literally, “The pieces of information are not public”)

   det offentliga rummet

   public space(s) [collectively]

   (literally, “the public room [idiomatic]”)

   1. public (in open view, often via mass media)

      offentlig debatt

      public debate

      göra ett offentligt uttalande

      make a public statement

      Jag kräver en offentlig ursäkt

      I demand a public apology

      Han vågar inte visa sig offentligt efter skandalen

      He doesn't dare show himself in public [publicly] after the scandal

3. public (of or pertaining to the public sector)

   Antonyms: (private (of private entities or individuals)) enskild, (private) privat

   offentlig sektor / den offentliga sektorn

   public sector / the public sector

   offentlig verksamhet

   public sector operations

   (Often rephrased with "public sector" or the like in translations.)

   offentlig förvaltning ― public administration

   offentliga medel ― public funds, public money

   offentliga utgifter ― public expenditure, public spending

   offentlig rätt ― public law

   offentlig upphandling ― public procurement

   en offentlig försvarare ― a public defender

Usage notes

• Compare allmän.
• Public service broadcasting and public service broadcasters collectively are called public service, as a loan from English.

Declension

Inflection of offentlig

Indefinite	positive	comparative	superlative1
common singular	offentlig	—	—
neuter singular	offentligt	—	—
plural	offentliga	—	—
masculine plural2	offentlige	—	—
Definite	positive	comparative	superlative
masculine singular3	offentlige	—	—
all	offentliga	—	—

¹ The indefinite superlative forms are only used in the predicative.
² Dated or archaic.
³ Only used, optionally, to refer to things whose natural gender is masculine.

Derived terms

• offentliggöra
• offentlig toalett (“public toilet”)

Related terms

• offentlighet

See also

• allmän
• public service

References

• “offentlig”, in Svensk ordbok [Dictionary of Swedish] (in Swedish)
• “offentlig”, in Svenska Akademiens ordlista [Wordlist of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)
• “offentlig”, in Svenska Akademiens ordbok [Dictionary of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)