Word of the Day Archive
Tuesday September 25, 2012
privity \PRIV-i-tee\
, noun:
1. Participation in the knowledge of something private or secret, especially as implying concurrence or consent.
2. Private or secret knowledge.
3. Law. The relation between privies.
4. Obsolete. Privacy.
Kazbitch — at least I imagine so — thought that Azamat had robbed him of his horse, with his father's privity and consent.
-- Mikhail Y. Lermontov, A Hero of Our Own Times
But Judith had not meddled with the arrangement, and every necessary disposition was made without her privity or advice.
-- James Fenimore Cooper, The Leatherstocking Tales
Privity stems from the Old French words prive meaning "private, close friend, private place."
Dictionary.com Entry and Pronunciation for privity
