private

[ prahy-vit ]

/ ˈpraɪ vɪt /

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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR private ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

belonging to some particular person: private property.

pertaining to or affecting a particular person or a small group of persons; individual; personal: for your private satisfaction.

confined to or intended only for the persons immediately concerned; confidential: a private meeting.

personal and not publicly expressed: one's private feelings.

not holding public office or employment: private citizens.

not of an official or public character; unrelated to one's official job or position: a former senator who has returned to private life; a college president speaking in his private capacity as a legal expert.

removed from or out of public view or knowledge; secret: private papers.

not open or accessible to the general public: a private beach.

undertaken individually or personally: private research.

without the presence of others; alone: Let's go into another room where we can be private.

solitary; secluded: He wants to meet us in a more private place.

preferring privacy; retiring: a very private person.

intimate; most personal: private behavior.

of, having, or receiving special hospital facilities, privileges, and services, especially a room of one's own and liberal visiting hours: a private room; a private patient.

of lowest military rank.

of, relating to, or coming from nongovernmental sources: private funding.

noun

a soldier of one of the three lowest enlisted ranks.

privates. private parts.

Nearby words

Idioms

in private, not publicly; secretly: The hearing will be conducted in private.

Origin of private

1350–1400; Middle English < Latin prīvātus private, literally, taken away (from public affairs), special use of past participle of prīvāre to rob. See deprive, -ate¹

SYNONYMS FOR private

2. singular, particular, peculiar. 10. sequestered, retired.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR private ON THESAURUS.COM

ANTONYMS FOR private

2. general, public.

SEE MORE ANTONYMS FOR private ON THESAURUS.COM

Related forms

pri·vate·ly, adverbpri·vate·ness, nounqua·si-pri·vate, adjectivequa·si-pri·vate·ly, adverb

un·pri·vate, adjectiveun·pri·vate·ly, adverbun·pri·vate·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for private

ROME — What does it take for a Hollywood A-lister to get a private audience with Pope Francis?
Pope Francis Has the Pleasure of Meeting Angelina Jolie for a Few Seconds|Barbie Latza Nadeau|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
The family was taking some private moments for a closing of the coffin in keeping with Chinese ritual.
Funeral Protest Is Too Much for NYPD Union Boss|Michael Daly|January 5, 2015|DAILY BEAST
But while his public profile receded, his private life blossomed.
Ed Brooke: The Senate's Civil Rights Pioneer and Prophet of a Post-Racial America|John Avlon|January 4, 2015|DAILY BEAST
My nickname was Captain, though I was a private, first class.
The Story Behind Lee Marvin’s Liberty Valance Smile|Robert Ward|January 3, 2015|DAILY BEAST

The role of private investigators has stirred controversy in the investigation.
U.S. Spies Say They Tracked ‘Sony Hackers’ For Years|Shane Harris|January 2, 2015|DAILY BEAST
They were quickly taken to private rooms, where the captain was attended by a police surgeon.
The Captain's Toll-Gate|Frank R. Stockton
The French, and to some extent the English, dispense with introductions at a private ball.
Our Deportment|John H. Young
This individual we have kept to the last, though he was little more than a private person, and is not at all famous.
A Jar of Honey from Mount Hybla|Leigh Hunt
What most attracted my attention was the captain's private collection of fishing tackle and his armoury.
The Pilots of Pomona|Robert Leighton
Custom is, to think a handsome thing in private but tame it down in the utterance.
The Letters Of Mark Twain, Volume 6, 1907-1910|Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)

British Dictionary definitions for private

private

/ (ˈpraɪvɪt) /

adjective

not widely or publicly knownthey had private reasons for the decision

confidential; secreta private conversation

not for general or public usea private bathroom

(prenominal) individual; specialmy own private recipe

(prenominal) having no public office, rank, etca private man

(prenominal) denoting a soldier of the lowest military ranka private soldier

of, relating to, or provided by a private individual or organization, rather than by the state or a public bodythe private sector; private housing

(of a place) retired; sequestered; not overlooked

(of a person) reserved; uncommunicative

in private in secret; confidentially

noun

a soldier of the lowest rank, sometimes separated into qualification grades, in many armies and marine corpsprivate first class

Derived Formsprivately, adverb

Word Origin for private

C14: from Latin prīvātus belonging to one individual, withdrawn from public life, from prīvāre to deprive, bereave

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for private

private

adj.

late 14c., "pertaining or belonging to oneself, not shared, individual; not open to the public;" of a religious rule, "not shared by Christians generally, distinctive; from Latin privatus "set apart, belonging to oneself (not to the state), peculiar, personal," used in contrast to publicus, communis; past participle of privare "to separate, deprive," from privus "one's own, individual," from PIE *prei-wo-, from PIE *prai-, *prei-, from root *per- (1) "forward, through" (see per).

Old English in this sense had syndrig. Private grew popular 17c. as an alternative to common (adj.), which had overtones of condescention. Of persons, "not holding public office," recorded from early 15c. In private "privily" is from 1580s. Related: Privately. Private school is from 1650s. Private parts "the pudenda" is from 1785. Private enterprise first recorded 1797; private property by 1680s; private sector is from 1948. Private eye "private detective" is recorded from 1938, American English.

private

1590s, "private citizen," short for private person "individual not involved in government" (early 15c.), or from Latin privatus "man in private life," noun use of the adjective; 1781 in the military sense, short for Private soldier "one below the rank of a non-commissioned officer" (1570s), from private (adj.).

Idioms and Phrases with private

private

In addition to the idiom beginning with private

private eye

also see:

free (private) enterprise
in private

private

adjective

noun

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Nearby words

Idioms

Origin of private

Examples from the Web for private

private

adjective

noun

Word Origin for private

private

private

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