publicatus

Publicatus is a Latin term derived from publicus, meaning "of the people" or "public," with the suffix -atus forming the perfect passive participle. As such, publicatus is typically translated as "made public" or "published." In classical Latin, it functions mainly as an adjective describing actions, documents, or notices that have been officially released, proclaimed, or put into the public domain.

The standard noun for the act of publishing in Latin is publicatio; publicatus occurs more often in late Latin and medieval texts, sometimes used as a nominalized participle to mean "the published thing" or "the public proclamation," though this use is relatively rare and highly context-dependent. Phrases like res publicatae (the published matters) or acta publicata (the public acts) illustrate its function as a descriptive modifier.

In modern scholarly translations, publicatus is generally rendered as "published" or "proclaimed," depending on context. It appears chiefly in legal, administrative, or documentary Latin, where it marks something that has been officially made public, such as declarations, edicts, decrees, or records that have been publicly posted or disseminated. For researchers, distinguishing publicatus from publicatio can help clarify whether a source emphasizes the act of publication or the object resulting from publication.

Related terms include publicus, publicatio, edictum.