privy
participating in the knowledge of something private or secret (usually followed by to): Many persons were privy to the plot.
private; assigned to private uses.
belonging or pertaining to some particular person, especially with reference to a sovereign.
secret, concealed, hidden, or secluded.
acting or done in secret.
Law. a person participating directly in or having a derivative interest in a legal transaction.
Origin of privy
1Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use privy in a sentence
Now throw them into the privies,” said the father, “and let the children perform the necessities of nature on them.
The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898 | VariousIn this part of the city there are neither sewers nor other drains, nor even privies belonging to the houses.
The Condition of the Working-Class in England in 1844 | Frederick EngelsPrivies are so rare here that they are either filled up every day, or are too remote for most of the inhabitants to use.
The Condition of the Working-Class in England in 1844 | Frederick EngelsOutbuildings are few; privies are almost unknown—even at the schools there are no closets of any kind.
The Negro Farmer | Carl KelseyAlways avoid, in the country, drinking water from farmers' wells located near cesspools or privies.
British Dictionary definitions for privy
/ (ˈprɪvɪ) /
(postpositive foll by to) participating in the knowledge of something secret
archaic secret, hidden, etc
archaic of or relating to one person only
a lavatory, esp an outside one
law a person in privity with another: See privity (def. 1)
Origin of privy
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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