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Definition of privy - 6 dictionary results

priv⋅y

  [priv-ee] adjective, priv⋅i⋅er, priv⋅i⋅est, noun, plural priv⋅ies.
Use privy in a Sentence
–adjective
1. participating in the knowledge of something private or secret (usually fol. by to): Many persons were privy to the plot.
2. private; assigned to private uses.
3. belonging or pertaining to some particular person, esp. with reference to a sovereign.
4. secret, concealed, hidden, or secluded.
5. acting or done in secret.
–noun
6. outhouse (def. 1).
7. Law. a person participating directly in or having a derivative interest in a legal transaction.
Origin:
1175–1225; ME prive < OF: private (adj.), close friend, private place (n.) < L prīvātus private
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To privy
priv·y   (prĭv'ē)   
adj.  
  1. Made a participant in knowledge of something private or secret: was privy to classified information.
  2. Belonging or proper to a person, such as the British sovereign, in a private rather than official capacity.
  3. Secret; concealed.
n.   pl. priv·ies
    1. An outdoor toilet; an outhouse.
    2. A toilet.
  2. Law One of the parties having an interest in the same matter.

[Middle English prive, from Old French, from Latin prīvātus, private, from prīvus, single, alone; see per1 in Indo-European roots.]
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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Privy

Priv"y\, a. [F. priv['e], fr. L. privatus. See Private.]

1. Of or pertaining to some person exclusively; assigned to private uses; not public; private; as, the privy purse. " Privee knights and squires." --Chaucer.

2. Secret; clandestine. " A privee thief." --Chaucer.

3. Appropriated to retirement; private; not open to the public. " Privy chambers." --Ezek. xxi. 14.

4. Admitted to knowledge of a secret transaction; secretly cognizant; privately knowing.

His wife also being privy to it. --Acts v. 2.

Myself am one made privy to the plot. --Shak.

Privy chamber, a private apartment in a royal residence. [Eng.]

Privy council (Eng. Law), the principal council of the sovereign, composed of the cabinet ministers and other persons chosen by the king or queen. --Burrill.

Privy councilor, a member of the privy council.

Privy purse, moneys set apart for the personal use of the monarch; also, the title of the person having charge of these moneys. [Eng.] --Macaulay.

Privy seal or signed, the seal which the king uses in grants, etc., which are to pass the great seal, or which the uses in matters of subordinate consequence which do not require the great seal; also, elliptically, the principal secretary of state, or person intrusted with the privy seal. [Eng.]

Privy verdict, a verdict given privily to the judge out of court; -- now disused. --Burrill.

Privy

Priv"y\, n.; pl. Privies. 1. (Law) A partaker; a person having an interest in any action or thing; one who has an interest in an estate created by another; a person having an interest derived from a contract or conveyance to which he is not himself a party. The term, in its proper sense, is distinguished from party. --Burrill. Wharton.

2. A necessary house or place; a backhouse.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : privy
Spanish: consejo privado,
German: Geheimer Staatsrat,
Japanese: 枢密院
More Translations »

privy  (adj.)
"private," c.1225, from O.Fr. privé, from L. privatus (see private). Meaning "participating in a secret" (usually with to) is attested from 1390. The noun meaning "toilet" is c.1225, from O.Fr. privé, from the adj. Privy Council is from c.1300 in a general sense; specifically of the British government, first attested 1375, as consaile priue.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Main Entry: privy
Pronunciation: 'pri-vE
Function: noun
Inflected Form: plural priv·ies
Etymology: Anglo-French privé, from Old French, intimate, confidant, from privé intimate, familiar, from Latin privatus private
: one having privity; especially : one who acquires an interest in the subject matter (as property) of prior or pending litigation and is bound by the judgment as if he or she were a party to the action
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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