Private definition
A private room in a hospital.
Private property, a private joke.
A private person.
A private citizen.
A private club; a private party.
Private corporation.
An example of something that would be described as private is a road that is only for residents of a neighborhood.
An example of information that would be described as private is your salary or your PIN number.
An example of something that would be described as private is a company owned only by a few people and not publicly traded on the stock market.
A private school.
A private dining room.
A private matter.
He quit public life, living quietly as a private citizen.
A private student.
Private medical practice.
Private detective, private tutor.
Her address is private; you can't have it.
The identity of the beneficiaries of the trust is private.
Can we go somewhere more private?
Private papers.
He is a very private person.
A private company; a company that went private; took a company private.
A private citizen.
A private hideaway.
A private room.
A private joke; private opinions.
Private studies; private research.
A private patient.
Private property.
Private funding.
A private college; a private sanatorium.
Private papers; a private communication.
Private behavior; a private tragedy.
A private person.
- To take a publicly owned company into private ownership, as by a leveraged buyout.
- Not in public; secretly or confidentially.
- to restore private ownership of a corporation by buying back publicly held stock
- privately or secretly; not publicly
Other Word Forms
Noun
Adjective
Idioms and Phrasal Verbs
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