Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Chiefly British The keeper of a public house or tavern.
- noun A collector of public taxes or tolls in the ancient Roman Empire.
- noun A collector of taxes or tribute from the public.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun In ancient Rome, one who farmed the public revenues; a tax-gatherer.
- noun Hence Any collector of toll, tribute, customs, or the like.
- noun The keeper of a public house or other such place of entertainment. In law, under the term publicans are included innkeepers, hotel-keepers, keepers of ale-houses, wine-vaults, etc.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Rom. Antiq.) A farmer of the taxes and public revenues; hence, a collector of toll or tribute. The inferior officers of this class were often oppressive in their exactions, and were regarded with great detestation.
- noun The keeper of an inn or public house; one licensed to retail beer, spirits, or wine.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun UK the
landlord of apublic house - noun a
tax collector inancient Rome
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun the keeper of a public house
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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I desired him: to prepare himself for a happier life, to acknowledge that he was a sinner, and to repent of his faults: and, happening to mention the publican, who acknowledged that he was a sinner, and asked God's mercy; he answered, '_I am that publican_.'
The Life of Hugo Grotius With Brief Minutes of the Civil, Ecclesiastical, and Literary History of the Netherlands Charles Butler 1791
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Nothing could further emphasize the sympathy of Jesus than his calling a publican to be his close companion and friend.
The Gospel of Luke, An Exposition Charles Rosenbury Erdman 1913
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Feeling bound to the monk by the service he had already done him, Brotteaux stepped up to him and made himself known as the publican who had stood beside him among the common herd, one day of great scarcity, and asked him if he could not be of some use to him.
Dieux ont soif. English Anatole France 1884
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January 11th, 2010 at 1: 01 pm tombaker says: unless you’re an OK resident, there’s really not much to be done about him, other than press the National Committee to cut his funding or find a better candidate down there. in any event, handing his seat back to some cRo-publican is never going to amount to a good idea.
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We do not see that, moreover, idealizing the category of prostitute, we also idealize that of publican, which is a category that always accompanies it in the Gospel.
Archive 2008-09-21 papabear 2008
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We do not see that, moreover, idealizing the category of prostitute, we also idealize that of publican, which is a category that always accompanies it in the Gospel.
Zenit: Fr. Cantalamessa's Gospel Commentary for 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time papabear 2008
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Very understandably, because a publican was a kind of Quisling, he was held in contempt by his fellow men; yet he knew at the same time that he had the power and legal authority of the Roman government behind him.
The Twelve: Matthew Julie D. 2005
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Saint Matthew, one of the twelve Apostles, who from being a publican, that is, a taxgatherer, was called by our Saviour to the Apostleship: in that profession his name is Levi.
The Bible, Douay-Rheims, Complete Anonymous
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Their publican is the druggist, where they buy opium for themselves and Godfrey's cordial, a preparation from laudanum, for their children.
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Irishman is a knowing scoundrel, the publican is a trifle more knowledgable than the customer, whose brains are besodden.
The Reminiscences of an Irish Land Agent S.M. Hussey
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