a board or select body of personal advisers, as of a sovereign.
(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.
(sometimes initial capital letters) any similar body, as one appointed to assist the governor of a British dominion.
the council of state of a monarch or noble, esp formerly
(in Canada) a ceremonial body of advisers of the governor general, the chief of them being the Federal cabinet ministers
archaic a private or secret council
1250–1300; Middle English prive counseil privy counsel
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"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
Within the first dozen pages we have had a dowry, a duel and a privy council.
From New York Times ● May 31, 2019
Meanwhile, the privy council having been summoned by Lord Burghley, it was decided to carry out the sentence at once, and Mary was beheaded on the 8th of February 1587.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 7, Slice 10 "David, St" to "Demidov" by Various
He was removed from the Privy Council, which advises the monarch, earlier in July.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
On 24 June, Donaldson asked for his knighthood to be forfeited and tendered his resignation from the Privy Council with immediate effect.
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026
He is a member of the Privy Council.
From BBC ● Dec. 20, 2024
He appealed first to courts in Jamaica before taking his case to the Privy Council in London, which serves as the highest court of appeal in Jamaica and other Commonwealth countries.
From BBC ● Aug. 1, 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
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
