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• privy council
  privy council

  noun

  a board or select body of personal advisers, as of a sovereign.
• Privy Council
  Privy Council

  noun

  the private council of the British sovereign, consisting of all current and former ministers of the Crown and other distinguished subjects, all of whom are appointed for life See also Judicial Committee of the Privy Council

privy council

American  

noun

1. a board or select body of personal advisers, as of a sovereign.

2. (initial capital letters) (in Great Britain) a body of persons who advise the sovereign in matters of state, the majority of members being selected by the prime minister.

3. (sometimes initial capital letters) any similar body, as one appointed to assist the governor of a British dominion.

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privy council ¹ British  

noun

1. the council of state of a monarch or noble, esp formerly

2. (in Canada) a ceremonial body of advisers of the governor general, the chief of them being the Federal cabinet ministers

3. archaic a private or secret council

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Privy Council ² British  

noun

1. the private council of the British sovereign, consisting of all current and former ministers of the Crown and other distinguished subjects, all of whom are appointed for life See also Judicial Committee of the Privy Council

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Other Word Forms

• Privy Counsellor
  noun
• privy councilor
  noun

Etymology

Origin of privy council

1250–1300; Middle English prive counseil privy counsel

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

privy council Privy Council

"I thought I'm going to buy a modern dress" and then embroider it with the fern motif of the privy council "as a nod to the past".

From BBC ● May 11, 2023

In January, Franklin was summoned to appear before the privy council, the king’s most senior advisers.

From Washington Post ● Apr. 15, 2023

Although he was a Protestant, he was a supporter of the Scotland's Catholic regent, and in 1561 he was appointed to the privy council by the newly widowed Mary on her return to Scotland.

From Salon ● Jul. 25, 2022

One source suggested something like this timetable could be on the agenda at the privy council meeting.

From The Guardian ● Aug. 28, 2019

The cause was very fully examined before the king's privy council.

From The Life of Benjamin Franklin Illustrated by Tales, Sketches, and Anecdotes by Samuel G. (Samuel Griswold) Goodrich

"I have this afternoon issued a letter signed by Jeffrey Donaldson to the Privy Council office tendering his resignation from the privy council with immediate effect," the statement continued.

From BBC ● Jun. 24, 2026

All the parties also called for Donaldson to be stripped of his knighthood and removed from membership of the Privy Council.

From BBC ● Jun. 23, 2026

Senior politicians who attend the Privy Council will see the monarch on a regular basis.

From BBC ● Nov. 1, 2025

He is a member of the Privy Council.

From BBC ● Dec. 20, 2024

Parkinson was hauled before the Privy Council for questioning and came within an ace of being dispatched in irons to Australia before the charges against him were quietly dropped.

From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson