privy

[ priv-ee ]
See synonyms for: privyprivies on Thesaurus.com

adjective,priv·i·er, priv·i·est.
  1. participating in the knowledge of something private or secret (usually followed by to): Many persons were privy to the plot.

  2. private; assigned to private uses.

  1. belonging or pertaining to some particular person, especially with reference to a sovereign.

  2. secret, concealed, hidden, or secluded.

  3. acting or done in secret.

noun,plural priv·ies.
  1. Law. a person participating directly in or having a derivative interest in a legal transaction.

Origin of privy

1
First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English prive, from Old French: “private” (adjective), “close friend, private place” (noun), from Latin prīvātus private

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use privy in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for privy

privy

/ (ˈprɪvɪ) /


adjectiveprivier or priviest
  1. (postpositive foll by to) participating in the knowledge of something secret

  2. archaic secret, hidden, etc

  1. archaic of or relating to one person only

nounplural privies
  1. a lavatory, esp an outside one

  2. law a person in privity with another: See privity (def. 1)

Origin of privy

1
C13: from Old French privé something private, from Latin prīvātus private

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