Publicities

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A series of promotional announcements or messages aimed at informing or influencing a broad audience
2. Various forms of communication intended to create awareness or generate interest in a product, service, or event
3. The act of disseminating information to the general populace to attract attention and enhance reputation

Etymology: "Publicities" is simply the plural of "publicity," so it is the form of a word whose origins lie in the Latin for "public." Publicity came into English from French "publicité," which in turn passed through Medieval Latin "pūblicitās," formed from Latin "pūblicus," meaning "public" or "general." The English word is therefore a straightforward public plus the suffix "-ity," which turns an adjective into a noun of quality or state. The sense of drawing attention to oneself or a product grew out of the older idea of simply being in the public eye. Because the word was built to describe the condition of being public, it naturally came to mean the deliberate work of making something known to crowds. The plural form appears mainly when speakers refer to several separate campaigns or instances of such attention.

Synonyms: advertisements, promotions, announcements