Private

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈpɹaɪvɪt/
• Hyphenation: pri + vate

Origin

From Latin prīvātus ("bereaved; set apart from"), perfect passive participle of prīvō ("I bereave, deprive"), from prīvus ("single, peculiar").

Full definition of private

Adjective

1. Belonging to, concerning, or accessible only to an individual person or a specific group.
• 2013-06-14, Jonathan Freedland, Obama's once hip brand is now tainted, Now we are liberal with our innermost secrets, spraying them into the public ether with a generosity our forebears could not have imagined. Where we once sent love letters in a sealed envelope, or stuck photographs of our children in a family album, now such private material is despatched to servers and clouds operated by people we don't know and will never meet.
2. Her address is private; you can't have it.
3. Not in governmental office or employment.
• 2013-07-19, Peter Wilby, Finland spreads word on schools, Imagine a country where children do nothing but play until they start compulsory schooling at age seven. Then, without exception, they attend comprehensives until the age of 16....There are no inspectors, no exams until the age of 18, no school league tables, no private tuition industry, no school uniforms. …
4. He quit public life, living quietly as a private citizen.
5. Not publicly known; not open; secret.
• 1963, Margery Allingham, The China Governess Chapter 20, The story struck the depressingly familiar note with which true stories ring in the tried ears of experienced policemen....The second note, the high alarum, not so familiar and always important since it indicates the paramount sin in Man's private calendar, took most of them by surprise although they had been well prepared.
6. The identity of the beneficiaries of the trust is private.
7. Protected from view or disturbance by others; secluded.
   Can we go somewhere more private?
8. Intended only for the use of an individual, group, or organization.
   private papers
9. Not accessible by the public.
   private property
10. Not traded by the public.
• 2013-06-22, Engineers of a different kind, Private-equity nabobs bristle at being dubbed mere financiers. Piling debt onto companies’ balance-sheets is only a small part of what leveraged buy-outs are about, they insist. Improving the workings of the businesses they take over is just as core to their calling, if not more so. Much of their pleading is public-relations bluster.
11. private corporation
12. Secretive; reserved.
    He is a very private person.
13. (US, of a room in a medical facility) Not shared with another patient.

Synonyms

• (done in the view of others): secluded
• (intended only for one's own use): personal
• (not accessible by the public):

Antonyms

• public

Noun

1. The lowest rank of the army.
2. A soldier of the rank of private.
3. (in plural privates) A euphemistic term for the genitals.
4. (obsolete) A secret message; a personal unofficial communication.
5. (obsolete) Personal interest; particular business.
• Ben JonsonNor must I be unmindful of my private.
6. (obsolete) Privacy; retirement.
• ShakespeareGo off; I discard you; let me enjoy my private.
7. (obsolete) One not invested with a public office.
• ShakespeareWhat have kings, that privates have not too?

Synonyms

• (genitals) bits, private parts

Derived terms