private law

Save This Word!

noun

a branch of law dealing with the legal relationships of private individuals.Compare public law (def. 2).

a statute affecting only one person or a small number of persons directly.

COMPARE MEANINGS

Click for a side-by-side comparison of meanings. Use the word comparison feature to learn the differences between similar and commonly confused words.

QUIZ

CAN YOU ANSWER THESE COMMON GRAMMAR DEBATES?

There are grammar debates that never die; and the ones highlighted in the questions in this quiz are sure to rile everyone up once again. Do you know how to answer the questions that cause some of the greatest grammar debates?

Question 1 of 7

Which sentence is correct?

His boss, whom he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

His boss, who he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of private law

First recorded in 1765–75

Words nearby private law

private international law, private investigator, private judgment, private label, private language, private law, private life, private-line car, Private Member, private member's bill, private parts

How to use private law in a sentence

He went into private law practice and served on the boards of the nonprofit National Committee Against Discrimination in Housing as well as Fannie Mae, a government-backed entity that buys home loans and packages them into securities.
Robert Elliott, who championed fair housing and refugee resettlement, dies at 80|Louie Estrada|October 6, 2021|Washington Post
DHHL plans to hire a private law firm to represent the interests of the trust since it both reports to the state and is negotiating with the state.
The Government Promised to Return Ancestral Hawaiian Land, Then Never Finished the Job|by Rob Perez, Honolulu Star-Advertiser, and Agnel Philip, ProPublica|December 19, 2020|ProPublica
A characteristic consequence is that Hale and Blackstone make no distinction between public and private law.
The English Utilitarians, Volume I.|Leslie Stephen
Erectness is delivery to the private law, and something in each remains erect, and lifts him above the brute and the crowd.
The Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 13, No. 76, February, 1864|Various

Then within the province of private law the ideas are few; these few have hard work to do; their outlines are blurred.
Domesday Book and Beyond|Frederic William Maitland
In particular no clear line is drawn between public and private law.
Domesday Book and Beyond|Frederic William Maitland
Then he uses terms and phrases which belong to the realm of pure private law.
Domesday Book and Beyond|Frederic William Maitland

British Dictionary definitions for private law

private law

noun

the branch of law that deals with the rights and duties of private individuals and the relations between themCompare public law

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