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Definitions for: Private
[n] an enlisted man of the lowest rank; "our prisoner was just a private and knew nothing of value"
[adj] not expressed; "secret (or private) thoughts"
[adj] concerning one person exclusively; "we all have individual cars"; "each room has a private bath"
[adj] concerning things deeply private and personal; "private correspondence"; "private family matters"
[adj] confined to particular persons or groups or providing privacy; "a private place"; "private discussions"; "private lessons"; "a private club"; "a private secretary"; "private property"; "the former President is now a private citizen"; "public figures struggle to maintain a private life"
Webster (1913) Definition: Pri"vate (?; 48), a. [L. privatus apart from the
state, peculiar to an individual, private, properly p. p. of
privare to bereave, deprive, originally, to separate, fr.
privus single, private, perhaps originally, put forward
(hence, alone, single) and akin to prae before. See Prior,
a., and cf. Deprive, Privy, 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. --Shak.
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. [Obs.]
Private act or statute, 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
Pri"vate, n.
1. A secret message; a personal unofficial communication.
[Obs.] --Shak.
2. Personal interest; particular business.[Obs.]
Nor must I be unmindful of my private. --B. Jonson.
3. Privacy; retirement. [Archaic] ``Go off; I discard you;
let me enjoy my private.'' --Shak.
4. One not invested with a public office. [Archaic]
What have kings, that privates have not too? --Shak.
5. (Mil.) A common soldier; a soldier below the grade of a
noncommissioned officer. --Macaulay.
6. pl. The private parts; the genitals.
In private, secretly; not openly or publicly.
Synonyms: backstage, buck private, clannish, cliquish, cloistered, close, closed-door, closet(a), clubby, common soldier, confidential, individual(a), insular, inward, nonpublic, offstage, one-on-one, personal, privy, reclusive, secluded, secret, sequestered, snobbish, snobby, tete-a-tete, toffee-nosed
Antonyms: public
See Also: enlisted man, esoteric
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