Publisher

How to spell publisher

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce publisher

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does publisher mean?

1. nounA person or company that prepares and issues books, newspapers, or other works for sale to the public.

Publisher in a sentence

• The publisher accepted her manuscript after a long review.

• A small independent publisher released the author's first novel.

Where does publisher come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word traces back to the Latin publicus, meaning 'belonging to the people' or 'public', which itself relates to populus, 'the people'. From this came the Latin verb publicare, 'to make public'; in Old French this became publier, 'to make known'. English borrowed the verb in the late 1300s as 'publish', meaning to announce something openly or make it widely available. By the 1500s and 1600s, as the printing trade grew, 'publish' narrowed toward issuing printed books and papers, and the agent noun 'publisher' arose for the person or firm that brings such works before the public. The spelling trap is the quiet '-ish' at the heart of the word, an echo of the French ending that turned the public root into an action.

How the word is built

• publ- (from Latin publicus: public)
• -ish (verb-forming suffix via French -iss)
• -er (agent suffix: one who does)