Private Definition
prīvĭt
privates, privater, privatest
adjective
privater, privatest
Secluded from the sight, presence, or intrusion of others.
A private hideaway.
American Heritage
For an individual person.
A private room in a hospital.
Webster's New World
Of, belonging to, or concerning a particular person or group; not common or general.
Private property, a private joke.
Webster's New World
Tending to keep one's personal matters to oneself.
A private person.
Webster's New World
Away from public view; secluded.
A private dining room.
Webster's New World
Antonyms:
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noun
privates
The genitals.
Webster's New World
An enlisted person of either of the two lowest ranks in the U.S. Army or of the lowest rank in the U.S. Marine Corps.
Webster's New World
One who holds this rank or a similar rank in a military organization.
American Heritage
Private parts. Often used with the.
American Heritage
(in plural privates) A euphemistic term for the genitals.
Wiktionary
Synonyms:
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idiom
go private
- To take a publicly owned company into private ownership, as by a leveraged buyout.
American Heritage
in private
- Not in public; secretly or confidentially.
American Heritage
go private
- to restore private ownership of a corporation by buying back publicly held stock
Webster's New World
in private
- privately or secretly; not publicly
Webster's New World
Other Word Forms of Private
Noun
Singular:
private
Plural:
privatesAdjective
Base Form:
private
Comparative:
privater
Superlative:
privatestIdioms, Phrasal Verbs Related to Private
- go private
- in private
- go private
- in private
Origin of Private
-
Middle English privat from Latin prīvātus not in public life past participle of prīvāre to release, deprive from prīvus single, alone per1 in Indo-European roots
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
-
From Latin prÄ«vātus (“bereaved; set apart from"), perfect passive participle of prÄ«vō (“I bereave, deprive"), from prÄ«vus (“single, peculiar").
From Wiktionary
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