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Definition of privileged - 6 dictionary results

priv⋅i⋅leged

  [priv-uh-lijd, priv-lijd]
Use privileged in a Sentence
–adjective
1. belonging to a class that enjoys special privileges; favored: the privileged few.
2. entitled to or exercising a privilege.
3. restricted to a select group or individual: privileged information; a privileged position.
4. Law. (of utterances or communications)
a. not rendering the person making them liable to prosecution for libel or slander, in view of the attendant circumstances.
b. not requiring any testimony concerning them to be presented in court.
5. Navigation. (of a vessel) having the right of way.
Compare burdened.

Origin:
1350–1400; ME; see privilege, -ed 2 , -ed 3

priv⋅i⋅lege

  [priv-uh-lij, priv-lij] noun, verb, -leged, -leg⋅ing.
–noun
1. a right, immunity, or benefit enjoyed only by a person beyond the advantages of most: the privileges of the very rich.
2. a special right, immunity, or exemption granted to persons in authority or office to free them from certain obligations or liabilities: the privilege of a senator to speak in Congress without danger of a libel suit.
3. a grant to an individual, corporation, etc., of a special right or immunity, under certain conditions.
4. the principle or condition of enjoying special rights or immunities.
5. any of the rights common to all citizens under a modern constitutional government: We enjoy the privileges of a free people.
6. an advantage or source of pleasure granted to a person: It's my privilege to be here.
7. Stock Exchange. an option to buy or sell stock at a stipulated price for a limited period of time, including puts, calls, spreads, and straddles.
–verb (used with object)
8. to grant a privilege to.
9. to exempt (usually fol. by from).
10. to authorize or license (something otherwise forbidden).
Origin:
1125–75; (n.) ME; earlier privilegie (< OF privilege) < L prīvilēgium orig., a law for or against an individual, equiv. to prīvi- (comb. form of prīvus one's own) + lēg- (see legal ) + -ium -ium; (v.) ME privilegen (< MF privilegier) < ML prīvilēgiāre, deriv. of prīvilēgium

Related forms:
priv⋅i⋅leg⋅er, noun

Synonyms:
1. Privilege, prerogative refer to a special advantage or right possessed by an individual or group. A privilege is a right or advantage gained by birth, social position, effort, or concession. It can have either legal or personal sanction: the privilege of paying half fare; the privilege of calling whenever one wishes. Prerogative refers to an exclusive right claimed and granted, often officially or legally, on the basis of social status, heritage, sex, etc.: the prerogatives of a king; the prerogatives of management. 4. license, freedom, liberty.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To privileged
priv·i·lege   (prĭv'ə-lĭj, prĭv'lĭj)   
n.  
    1. A special advantage, immunity, permission, right, or benefit granted to or enjoyed by an individual, class, or caste. See Synonyms at right.
    2. Such an advantage, immunity, or right held as a prerogative of status or rank, and exercised to the exclusion or detriment of others.
    3. Protection from being forced to disclose confidential communications in certain relationships, as between attorney and client, physician and patient, or priest and confessor.
    4. Protection from being sued for libel or slander for making otherwise actionable statements in a context or forum where open and candid expression is deemed desirable for reasons of public policy.
  2. The principle of granting and maintaining a special right or immunity: a society based on privilege.
    1. Protection from being forced to disclose confidential communications in certain relationships, as between attorney and client, physician and patient, or priest and confessor.
    2. Protection from being sued for libel or slander for making otherwise actionable statements in a context or forum where open and candid expression is deemed desirable for reasons of public policy.
  4. An option to buy or sell a stock, including put, call, spread, and straddle.
tr.v.   priv·i·leged, priv·i·leg·ing, priv·i·leg·es
  1. To grant a privilege to.
  2. To free or exempt.

[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin prīvilēgium, a law affecting one person : prīvus, single, alone; see per1 in Indo-European roots + lēx, lēg-, law; see leg- in Indo-European roots.]
priv·i·leged   (prĭv'ə-lĭjd, prĭv'lĭjd)   
adj.  
  1. Enjoying a privilege or having privileges: a privileged childhood; privileged society.
  2. Confined to an exclusive or chosen group of individuals: privileged information.
  3. Law
    1. Protected by a legally recognized right against disclosure: privileged information.
    2. Protected by a legally recognized right against a lawsuit for libel or slander.
n.   (used with a pl. verb)
Privileged people considered as a group. Often used with the.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Privileged

Priv"i*leged\, a. Invested with a privilege; enjoying a peculiar right, advantage, or immunity.

Privileged communication. (Law) (a) A communication which can not be disclosed without the consent of the party making it, -- such as those made by a client to his legal adviser, or by persons to their religious or medical advisers. (b) A communication which does not expose the party making it to indictment for libel, -- such as those made by persons communicating confidentially with a government, persons consulted confidentially as to the character of servants, etc.

Privileged debts (Law), those to which a preference in payment is given out of the estate of a deceased person, or out of the estate of an insolvent. --Wharton. --Burrill.

Privileged witnesses (Law) witnesses who are not obliged to testify as to certain things, as lawyers in relation to their dealings with their clients, and officers of state as to state secrets; also, by statute, clergymen and physicans are placed in the same category, so far as concerns information received by them professionally.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Main Entry: priv·i·leged
Function: adjective
: not subject to the usual rules or penalties because of some special circumstance; especially : not subject to disclosure esp. in an adjudicative proceeding
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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