Adjacent Words

Private definitions

	Tweet

Webster's 1828 Dictionary

PRI'VATE, a. [L. privatus, from privo, to bereave, properly to strip or separate; privus, singular, several, peculiar to one's self, that is, separate; rapio, diripio, eripio; privo for perivo or berivo.]
1. Properly, separate; unconnected with others; hence, peculiar to one's self; belonging to or concerning an individual only; as a man's private opinion, business or concerns; private property; the king's private purse; a man's private expenses. Charge the money to my private account in the company's books.
2. Peculiar to a number in a joint concern, to a company or body politic; as the private interest of a family, of a company or of a state; opposed to public, or to the general interest of nations.
3. Sequestered from company or observation; secret; secluded; as a private cell; a private room or apartment; private prayer.
4. Not publicly known; not open; as a private negotiation.
5. Not invested with public office or employment; as a private man or citizen; private lift.
A private person may arrest a felon.
6. Individual; personal; in contradistinction from public or national; as private interest.
Private way, in law, is a way or passage in which a man has an interest and right, though the ground may belong to another person. In common language, a private way may be a secret way, one not known or public.
A private act or statute, is one which operates on an individual or company only; opposed to a general law, which operates on the whole community.
A private nuance or wrong, is one which affects an individual.
In private, secretly; not openly or publicly.
PRI'VATE, n. A secret message; particular business. [Unusual.]
1. A common soldier.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: confined to particular persons or groups or providing privacy; "a private place"; "private discussions"; "private lessons"; "a private club"; "a private secretary"; "private property"; "the former President is now a private citizen"; "public figures struggle to maintain a private life" [ant: public]
2: concerning things deeply private and personal; "private correspondence"; "private family matters"
3: concerning one person exclusively; "we all have individual cars"; "each room has a private bath" [syn: individual, private]
4: not expressed; "secret (or private) thoughts" [syn: secret, private] n
1: an enlisted man of the lowest rank in the Army or Marines; "our prisoner was just a private and knew nothing of value" [syn: private, buck private, common soldier]

Merriam Webster's

I. adjective Etymology: Middle English privat, from Anglo-French, from Latin privatus, from past participle of privare to deprive, release, from privus private, individual; probably akin to Latin pro for, in front of — more at for Date: 14th century 1. a. intended for or restricted to the use of a particular person, group, or class <a private park> b. belonging to or concerning an individual person, company, or interest <a private house> c. (1) restricted to the individual or arising independently of others <private opinion> (2) carried on by the individual independently of the usual institutions <private study> <a doctor in private practice>; also being educated by independent study or a tutor or in a private school <private students> d. not general in effect <a private statute> e. of, relating to, or receiving hospital service in which the patient has more privileges than a semiprivate or ward patient 2. a. (1) not holding public office or employment <a private citizen> (2) not related to one's official position ; personal <private correspondence> b. being a private <a private soldier> 3. a. withdrawn from company or observation ; sequestered <a private retreat> b. not known or intended to be known publicly ; secret <a private conversation> c. preferring to keep personal affairs to oneself ; valuing privacy highly d. unsuitable for public use or display 4. not having shares that can be freely traded on the open market <a private company> • privately adverb • privateness noun II. noun Date: 15th century 1. archaic one not in public office 2. obsolete privacy 3. plural private parts 4. a. a person of low rank in various organizations (as a police or fire department) b. an enlisted man of the lowest rank in the marine corps or of one of the two lowest ranks in the army

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. & n. --adj. 1 belonging to an individual; one's own; personal (private property). 2 confidential; not to be disclosed to others (private talks). 3 kept or removed from public knowledge or observation. 4 a not open to the public. b for an individual's exclusive use (private room). 5 (of a place) secluded; affording privacy. 6 (of a person) not holding public office or an official position. 7 (of education or medical treatment) conducted outside the State system, at the individual's expense. --n. 1 a private soldier. 2 (in pl.) colloq. the genitals. Phrases and idioms: in private privately; in private company or life. private bill a parliamentary bill affecting an individual or corporation only. private company Brit. a company with restricted membership and no issue of shares. private detective a detective engaged privately, outside an official police force. private enterprise 1 a business or businesses not under State control. 2 individual initiative. private eye colloq. a private detective. private first class US a soldier ranking above an ordinary private but below officers. private hotel a hotel not obliged to take all comers. private house the dwelling-house of a private person, as distinct from a shop, office, or public building. private law a law relating to individual persons and private property. private life life as a private person, not as an official, public performer, etc. private means income from investments etc., apart from earned income. private member a member of a legislative body not holding a government office. private member's bill a bill introduced by a private member, not part of government legislation. private parts the genitals. private patient Brit. a patient treated by a doctor other than under the National Health Service. private practice Brit. medical practice that is not part of the National Health Service. private press a printing establishment operated by a private person or group not primarily for profit and usu. on a small scale. private school 1 Brit. a school supported wholly by the payment of fees. 2 US a school not supported mainly by the State. private secretary a secretary dealing with the personal and confidential concerns of a businessman or businesswoman. private sector the part of the economy free of direct State control. private soldier an ordinary soldier other than the officers (and US other than recruits). private view the viewing of an exhibition (esp. of paintings) before it is open to the public. private war 1 a feud between persons or families disregarding the law of murder etc. 2 hostilities against members of another State without the sanction of one's own government. private wrong an offence against an individual but not against society as a whole. Derivatives: privately adv. Etymology: ME f. L privatus, orig. past part. of privare deprive

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Private Pri"vate (?; 48), a. [L. privatus apart from the state, peculiar to an individual, private, properly p. p. of privare to bereave, deprive, originally, to separate, fr. privus single, private, perhaps originally, put forward (hence, alone, single) and akin to prae before. See Prior, a., and cf. Deprive, Privy, a.] 1. Belonging to, or concerning, an individual person, company, or interest; peculiar to one's self; unconnected with others; personal; one's own; not public; not general; separate; as, a man's private opinion; private property; a private purse; private expenses or interests; a private secretary. 2. Sequestered from company or observation; appropriated to an individual; secret; secluded; lonely; solitary; as, a private room or apartment; private prayer. Reason . . . then retires Into her private cell when nature rests. --Milton.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Private Pri"vate, n. 1. A secret message; a personal unofficial communication. [Obs.] --Shak. 2. Personal interest; particular business.[Obs.] Nor must I be unmindful of my private. --B. Jonson. 3. Privacy; retirement. [Archaic] ``Go off; I discard you; let me enjoy my private.'' --Shak. 4. One not invested with a public office. [Archaic] What have kings, that privates have not too? --Shak. 5. (Mil.) A common soldier; a soldier below the grade of a noncommissioned officer. --Macaulay. 6. pl. The private parts; the genitals. In private, secretly; not openly or publicly.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(privates) Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. Private industries and services are owned or controlled by an individual person or a commercial company, rather than by the state or an official organization. (BUSINESS) Bupa runs private hospitals in Britain... Brazil says its constitution forbids the private ownership of energy assets. ADJ: usu ADJ n • privately No other European country had so few privately owned businesses... She was privately educated at schools in Ireland and Paris. ADV: ADV with v 2. Private individuals are acting only for themselves, and are not representing any group, company, or organization. ...the law's insistence that private citizens are not permitted to have weapons... The King was on a private visit to enable him to pray at the tombs of his ancestors... ADJ: ADJ n 3. Your private things belong only to you, or may only be used by you. There are 76 individually furnished bedrooms, all with private bathrooms... ADJ: usu ADJ n 4. Private places or gatherings may be attended only by a particular group of people, rather than by the general public. 673 private golf clubs took part in a recent study... The door is marked 'Private'... ? public ADJ: usu ADJ n 5. Private meetings, discussions, and other activities involve only a small number of people, and very little information about them is given to other people. Don't bug private conversations, and don't buy papers that reprint them. ADJ: usu ADJ n • privately Few senior figures have issued any public statements but privately the resignation's been welcomed... ADV: usu ADV with cl, also ADV after v 6. Your private life is that part of your life that is concerned with your personal relationships and activities, rather than with your work or business. I've always kept my private and professional life separate... = personal ADJ: usu ADJ n 7. Your private thoughts or feelings are ones that you do not talk about to other people. We all felt as if we were intruding on his private grief. ADJ: usu ADJ n • privately Privately, she worries about whether she's really good enough... ADV: ADV with cl, ADV with v 8. You can use private to describe situations or activities that are understood only by the people involved in them, and not by anyone else. Chinese waiters stood in a cluster, sharing a private joke... ADJ: ADJ n 9. If you describe a place as private, or as somewhere where you can be private, you mean that it is a quiet place and you can be alone there without being disturbed. It was the only reasonably private place they could find. ADJ 10. If you describe someone as a private person, you mean that they are very quiet by nature and do not reveal their thoughts and feelings to other people. Gould was an intensely private individual. ADJ: usu ADJ n 11. You can use private to describe lessons that are not part of ordinary school activity, and which are given by a teacher to an individual pupil or a small group, usually in return for payment. Martial arts: Private lessons: £8 per hour. ...Donald Tovey, who took her as his private pupil for the piano. ADJ: usu ADJ n 12. A private is a soldier of the lowest rank in an army or the marines. N-COUNT; N-TITLE 13. see also privately 14. If you do something in private, you do it without other people being present, often because it is something that you want to keep secret. Some of what we're talking about might better be discussed in private. PHRASE: usu PHR after v

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. a. 1. Secluded, retired, sequestered, solitary. 2. Individual, personal, special, peculiar, particular. 3. Privy. 4. Confidential, not to be disclosed or communicated. 5. Unofficial. 6. Secret, concealed, hidden, clandestine. II. n. (Mil.) Common soldier.

Moby Thesaurus

Tommy, Tommy Atkins, absolute, anonymous, antisocial, behind closed doors, buck private, certain, clandestine, closet, common soldier, concealed, concrete, confidential, confidentially, covert, covertly, deep-seated, defined, definite, detailed, determinate, different, discreet, distinct, distinguished, enlisted man, esoteric, especial, exceptional, exclusive, express, extraordinary, fixed, furtively, genitalia, genitals, grunt, hermitical, hidden, hush-hush, hushed, idiosyncratic, immanent, implanted, implicit, in camera, in private, in secret, inaccessible, inalienable, incognito, individual, indwelling, infantryman, infixed, ingrained, inherent, inmost, inner, innermost, inside, interior, internal, intimate, intrinsic, inward, inwrought, irreducible, isolated, minute, noncommissioned officer, not for publication, noteworthy, off the record, on the sly, own, particular, peculiar, personal, personally, precise, private first class, privately, privileged, privy, reclusive, reserved, resident, respective, restricted, restrictive, reticent, retired, retiring, secluded, seclusive, secret, secretively, secretly, sequestered, several, sex organs, singular, sneakily, sneaking, sneakingly, solipsistic, solitary, special, specific, sub rosa, subjective, surreptitious, surreptitiously, top secret, unalienable, unchallengeable, uncommunicative, undisclosed, unofficial, unquestionable, unsociable, unsocial, withdrawn