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Definition of 'privy'

Word Frequency

privy

(prɪvi )
Word forms: plural privies
1. adjective
If you are privy to something secret, you have been allowed to know about it.
[formal]
Only three people, including a police officer, will be privy to the facts. [+ to]
Synonyms: informed of, aware of, in on, wise to [slang]   More Synonyms of privy
2. countable noun
A privy is a toilet, especially one that is in a small building outside a house.
[old-fashioned]
Synonyms: lavatory, closet, bog [slang], latrine   More Synonyms of privy
More Synonyms of privy
COBUILD Advanced English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Word Frequency

privy in British

(ˈprɪvɪ )
adjectiveWord forms: privier or priviest
1. (postpositive; foll by to)
participating in the knowledge of something secret
2. archaic
secret, hidden, etc
3. archaic
of or relating to one person only
nounWord forms: plural privies
4. 
a lavatory, esp an outside one
5. law
a person in privity with another
privity (sense 1)
Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Word origin of 'privy'
C13: from Old French privé something private, from Latin prīvātus private
Word Frequency

privy in American

(ˈprɪvi ; privˈē)
adjective
1.  Obsolete
private; not public
see also privy council
2.  Archaic
hidden, secret, furtive, etc.
nounWord forms: plural ˈprivies
3. 
a toilet; esp., an outhouse
4.  Law
a person who is in privity with another
Idioms:
privy to
Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 4th Edition. Copyright © 2010 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.
Derived forms
privily (ˈprivily)
  adverb
Word origin of 'privy'
ME < OFr prive < L privatus, private

Example sentences containing 'privy'

These examples have been automatically selected and may contain sensitive content. Read more…
Does that make him a privy counsellor? Times, Sunday Times (2016)The privy council agreed with his judgment. Times, Sunday Times (2016)About 40,000 people were privy to the technical rehearsal and yet most of them kept mum. Times, Sunday Times (2012)He is the second privy counsellor to be ejected in 200 years. Times, Sunday Times (2011)After all, his first act had been to be sealed in a privy. Times, Sunday Times (2014)From the coal fire in the parlour to the outside privy, it was like stepping into a different universe. Times, Sunday Times (2014)It is her courtiers who seem not to grasp that the privy purse is filled by the public's increasingly tatty wallet. Times, Sunday Times (2013)A report by a group of privy counsellors predicts that most calls will be made via the internet within five years. Times, Sunday Times (2009)No one is privy to her despair, her chaos, and her shame. Bloom, Carol & Gitter, Andrea (contributor) & Gutwill, Susan (contributor) & Kogel, Laura (contributor) & Zaphiropoulos, Lela (contributor) Eating Problems: A Feminist Psychoanalytic Treatment Model (1994)She was then leader of the Commons, lord privy seal and minister for women and equality. Times, Sunday Times (2015)No one should be privy to sights above the thigh unless you've made an appointment and they're wearing gloves. Times, Sunday Times (2016)A boiler house, added in wartime and used as an outside privy, took the likely place of the original front door. Times, Sunday Times (2008)

Word Lists

Law terms

Trends of 'privy'

Used Occasionally. privy is one of the 30000 most commonly used words in the Collins dictionary

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Translations for 'privy'

British English: privy ADJECTIVE
If you are privy to something secret, you have been allowed to know about it.
Only three people, including a policeman, will be privy to the facts.
  • American English: privy
  • Brazilian Portuguese: inteirado
  • Chinese: 跟...有利害关系
  • European Spanish: conocimiento de
  • French: au courant
  • German: eingeweiht in
  • Italian: a conoscenza
  • Japanese: 内情に通じた
  • Korean: 비밀을 공유하는 것이 허락된
  • European Portuguese: inteirado
  • Spanish: conocimiento de

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Nearby words of 'privy'

  • privities
  • privity
  • privocrat
  • privy
  • privy chamber
  • privy council
  • Privy Councillor

  • All ENGLISH words that begin with 'P'

Related Terms of 'privy'

  • privy to
  • privy purse
  • privy seal
  • privy chamber
  • Privy Council

  • View more related words

Source

Definition of privy from the Collins English Dictionary

Showing possession through nouns

Possession can be shown in two ways: The man was mending his car. The car was being mended by a man. by adding-’s to a singular noun, or an irregular plural noun that does not end in - s. ...
Read more about 'Showing possession through nouns'
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Scrabble score for 'privy': 13
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