Private

Definition of Private

Pri´vate   Pronunciation: prī´vãt
a.1.Belonging to, or concerning, an individual person, company, or interest; peculiar to one's self; unconnected with others; personal; one's own; not public; not general; separate; as, a man's private opinion; private property; a private purse; private expenses or interests; a private secretary.
2.Sequestered from company or observation; appropriated to an individual; secret; secluded; lonely; solitary; as, a private room or apartment; private prayer.
Reason . . . then retires
Into her private cell when nature rests.
- Milton.
3.Not invested with, or engaged in, public office or employment; as, a private citizen; private life.
A private person may arrest a felon.
- Blackstone.
4.Not publicly known; not open; secret; as, a private negotiation; a private understanding.
5.Having secret or private knowledge; privy.
Private act
a statute exclusively for the settlement of private and personal interests, of which courts do not take judicial notice; - opposed to a general law, which operates on the whole community. In the United States Congress, similar private acts are referred to as private law and a general law as a public law.
Private nuisance
See Nuisance.
Private soldier
See Private, n., 5.
Private way
a right of private passage over another man's ground; also, a road on private land, contrasted with public road, which is on a public right of way.
- Kent.
n.1.A secret message; a personal unofficial communication.
2.Personal interest; particular business.
Nor must I be unmindful of my private.
- B. Jonson.
3.Privacy; retirement.
4.One not invested with a public office.
What have kings, that privates have not too?
- Shak.
5.(Mil.) A common soldier; a soldier below the grade of a noncommissioned officer.
6.The private parts; the genitals.
In private
secretly; not openly or publicly.

Related Words

Tommy, Tommy Atkins, absolute, anonymous, antisocial, behind closed doors, buck private, certain, closet, common soldier, concrete, confidential, confidentially, covertly, deep-seated, defined, definite, detailed, determinate, different, discreet, distinct, distinguished, enlisted man, esoteric, especial, exceptional, exclusive, express, extraordinary, fixed, furtively, genitalia, genitals, grunt, hermitical, hush-hush, hushed, idiosyncratic, immanent, implanted, implicit, in camera, in private, in secret, inaccessible, inalienable, incognito, indwelling, infantryman, infixed, ingrained, inherent, inmost, inner, innermost, inside, interior, internal, intimate, intrinsic, inward, inwrought, irreducible, isolated, minute, noncommissioned officer, not for publication, noteworthy, off the record, on the sly, own, peculiar, personally, precise, private first class, privately, privileged, privy, reclusive, reserved, resident, respective, restricted, restrictive, reticent, retired, retiring, secluded, seclusive, secretively, secretly, sequestered, several, sex organs, singular, sneakily, sneaking, sneakingly, solipsistic, solitary, specific, sub rosa, subjective, surreptitiously, top secret, unalienable, unchallengeable, uncommunicative, undisclosed, unofficial, unquestionable, unsociable, unsocial, withdrawn
Word:

Browse

Prison
Prison bars
Prison breach
Prison house
Prison limits
Prison ship
Prison van
Prison yard
Prisoner
Prisoner's base
Prisonment
Pristinate
Pristine
Pritch
Pritchel
Prithee
Prittle-prattle
Privacy
Privado
Privatdocent
-Private-
Private act
Private international law
private law
Private nuisance
Private soldier
Private way
Privateer
Privateering
Privateersman
Privately
Privateness
Privation
Privative
Privatively
Privativeness
Privet
Privilege
Privileged
Privileged communication
Privileged debts
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

© 2009 Interapple, Inc. Cover