publication

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. The act or process of publishing printed matter.
2. n. An issue of printed material offered for sale or distribution.
3. n. Communication of information to the public.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. The act of publishing, or bringing to public notice; notification to people at large, by speech, writing, or printing; proclamation; promulgation; announcement: as, the publication of statutes; publication of banns. In law, the publication of defamation consists in communicating it to any third person; the publication of a will is that act of a testator in which he declares to the subscribing witnesses that the instrument he asks them to attest is his will; in chancery proceedings, opening to the inspection of the parties depositions that have been taken and returned under seal to the court or clerk is publication.
2. n. The act of offering a book, map, print, piece of music, or the like, to the public by sale or by gratuitous distribution.
3. n. A work printed and published; any book, pamphlet, or periodical offered for sale to the public: as, a monthly publication; an illustrated publication.
4. n. 4. Appearance in public; public appearance.
5. n. In systematic biol., the distribution, in print, of the name of a species, genus, or other biological group, in accordance with certain technical requirements. To constitute publication of a species name, it is required that it shall be accompanied by a description or by a citation of a description. To constitute publication of a genus name, it is required in addition that it shall be associated with a species whose name is published at the same or at an earlier time. A writer who uses a new name without complying with the technical requirements of publication is said to propose the name. A subsequent writer may adopt such a name by citing it and completing its publication. In botany, by reason of the initial date for the application of the law of priority, genus and species names in works prior to 1753 are regarded as proposed but not published. See law of priority, under law.

Wiktionary

1. n. The act of publishing printed or other matter
2. n. An issue of printed or other matter, offered for sale or distribution
3. n. The communication of information to the general public etc.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. The act of publishing or making known; notification to the people at large, either by words, writing, or printing; proclamation; divulgation; promulgation.
2. n. The act of offering a book, pamphlet, engraving, etc., to the public by sale or by gratuitous distribution.
3. n. That which is published or made known; especially, any book, pamphlet, etc., offered for sale or to public notice.
4. n. R. & Obs. An act done in public.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. a copy of a printed work offered for distribution
2. n. the communication of something to the public; making information generally known
3. n. the business of issuing printed matter for sale or distribution
4. n. the act of issuing printed materials