noun [ C , U ]
1.
(in Britain, especially in England) a private school for young people between the ages of 13 and 18, whose parents pay for their education. The students often live at the school while they are studying :
He was educated at (a) public school.
—compare preparatory school , private school
2.
ˈpublic school (in the US, Australia, Scotland and other countries) a free local school paid for by the government
—compare state school
For more information see the Cultural Guide
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WORD ORIGIN
late 16th cent.: from Latin publica schola , denoting a school maintained at the public expense; in England public school (a term recorded from 1580) originally denoted a grammar school under public management, founded for the benefit of the public (contrasting with private school , run for the profit of the proprietor); since the 19th cent. the term has been applied to the old endowed English grammar schools, and newer schools modelled on them, which have developed into fee-paying boarding schools.