private enterprise

noun

1. free enterprise.

private enterprise

noun

1. economic activity undertaken by private individuals or organizations under private ownership Compare public enterprise

2. another name for capitalism

private enterprise

1. Business carried on for profit and not owned by the government; also, the system that discourages public ownership of business; the same as free enterprise. (See private sector.)

Word History and Origins

Origin of private enterprise¹

First recorded in 1835–45