Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Made a participant in knowledge of something private or secret.
- adjective Belonging or proper to a person, such as the British sovereign, in a private rather than official capacity.
- adjective Secret; concealed.
- noun An outdoor toilet; an outhouse.
- noun A toilet.
- noun Law One in privity with another.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Private; pertaining to some person exclusively; assigned to private uses; not public: as, the privy purse.
- Secret; not seen openly; not made known in public.
- Private; appropriated to retirement; sequestered; retired.
- Privately knowing; admitted to the participation with another in knowledge of a secret transaction: generally with to.
- Intimate; familiar; on confidential terms; well known.
- Cognizant (of), acquainted (with).
- noun In law, one standing in a relation of privily to another. See
privity , 7. - noun A secret friend.
- noun A necessary.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Of or pertaining to some person exclusively; assigned to private uses; not public; private.
- adjective Secret; clandestine.
- adjective Appropriated to retirement; private; not open to the public.
- adjective Admitted to knowledge of a secret transaction; secretly cognizant; privately knowing.
- adjective [Eng.] a private apartment in a royal residence.
- adjective (Eng. Law) the principal council of the sovereign, composed of the cabinet ministers and other persons chosen by the king or queen.
- adjective a member of the privy council.
- adjective [Eng.] moneys set apart for the personal use of the monarch; also, the title of the person having charge of these moneys.
- adjective [Eng.] the seal which the king uses in grants, etc., which are to pass the great seal, or which he 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.
- adjective a verdict given privily to the judge out of court; -- now disused.
- noun (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 . - noun A necessary house or place for performing excretory functions in private; an outhouse; a backhouse.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective
Private ,exclusive ; that is one's own. - adjective archaic
Secret ,hidden ,concealed . - adjective With
knowledge of;party to; let in on. - noun An
outdoor toilet ;latrine ; earthcloset ;john ;johnny house . - noun law A
partaker ; one having aninterest in anaction ,contract , etc. to which he is not himself aparty .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a room or building equipped with one or more toilets
- adjective (followed by `to') informed about something secret or not generally known
- noun a small outbuilding with a bench having holes through which a user can defecate
- adjective hidden from general view or use
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Bacillus coli inhabits the internal tract of cattle as well as of man, but when in a farmyard the privy is as near to the shallow well as is the dung heap, it is not exactly safe to suppose that these and other contaminating microbes are derived only from harmless cattle.
War Story of the Canadian Army Medical Corps John George 1918
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Posted in privy council clerk kevin lynch, public service minority gap, restorative justice.
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Posted in privy council clerk kevin lynch, public service minority gap, restorative justice.
A "Gap" Of Minorities In Government Jobs « Unambiguously Ambidextrous 2008
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The privy is a straight "Parson's bench" style with 40 holes; ten on each side wall and twenty back to back in the middle of the building.
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The word privy is one of the earliest euphemisms used in England; an anonymous writer at the turn of the fifteenth century advised
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journalists have been sent to Pyongyang and are undergoing a direct investigation '' by the North's spy agency and military, Yonhap quoted a source in China it described as privy to North Korean affairs.
unknown title 2009
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Shivering, he mooched outside to what Uncle Gib called the privy and he the “bog.”
Portobello Ruth Rendell 2010
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I didn't use actual slang words, per se, except for "necessary" (which is what ladies called the privy or outhouse).
slayground: Interview: Kirby Larson Little Willow 2007
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Just recently, it dawned on me that the privy was a one-holer.
dear God, am I bored Holly 2005
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Were they prevailed on to call a privy meeting tomorrow, with a loaded quorum, Hauksberg would depart with the authority he needed.
Ensign Flandry Anderson, Poul, 1926- 1966
slumry commented on the word privy
In the sense of "participating in the knowledge of something private or secret."
An one hopes a privy would be private.
July 15, 2007
arby commented on the word privy
Is it pronounced the same? I always thought "privy" in the way you describe rhymed with chivvy and "privy" as in outhouse rhymed with ivy.
August 12, 2007
slumry commented on the word privy
I have always heard both pronounced the same way, with a short i, rhyming with chivvy.
August 12, 2007
reesetee commented on the word privy
I've never heard this pronounced with a long i at all.
August 20, 2007
jennarenn commented on the word privy
I think that it always has the short i, but I can see why you'd expect it to rhyme with ivy. Yet another reason why teaching English is harder than it really needs to be.
August 20, 2007
arby commented on the word privy
And another example of my mispronouncing words based on their spelling. At least I know now, better late than never!
August 21, 2007
Prolagus commented on the word privy
You are the one who's making do
I am the one who's privy to
'cause you saw him in the park
'cause you saw him at the bridges with the people in the dark.
(Mayfly, by Belle and Sebastian)
August 24, 2008
jwjarvis commented on the word privy
privy to campaign strategy
March 10, 2011