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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

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Etymology

Origin of privy council

1250–1300; Middle English prive counseil privy counsel

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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

Senior sources said a privy council of senior ministers was preparing to meet the Queen at Balmoral this week, perhaps as soon as Wednesday to set this in motion.

From The Guardian ● Aug. 28, 2019

If I am rightly informed, the records of the privy council are preserved only since 1540.

From Notes and Queries, Vol. IV, Number 96, August 30, 1851 A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc. by Various

When the university authorities threatened to withhold Marlowe’s degree following prolonged absences from Cambridge, the Privy Council intervened to reassure them that he had “done her Majesty good service.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 28, 2026

Meanwhile, Britain's Privy Council -- the final court of appeal for UK overseas territories -- will next year hear a petition for slavery reparations filed by Jamaica.

From Barron's ● Oct. 25, 2026

Olivia Grange, the country's culture minister, said the petition would ask the King to refer three questions to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council over the legality of the enslavement of Africans in Jamaica.

From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2026

He was removed from the Privy Council, which advises the monarch, earlier in July.

From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026

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

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