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private

private [prahy-vit] SynonymsExamplesWord Origin adjective

belonging to some particular person: private property.
pertaining to or affecting a particular person or a small group of persons; individual; personal: for your private satisfaction.
confined to or intended only for the persons immediately concerned; confidential: a private meeting.
personal and not publicly expressed: one’s private feelings.
not holding public office or employment: private citizens.
not of an official or public character; unrelated to one’s official job or position: a former senator who has returned to private life; a college president speaking in his private capacity as a legal expert.
removed from or out of public view or knowledge; secret: private papers.
not open or accessible to the general public: a private beach.
undertaken individually or personally: private research.
without the presence of others; alone: Let’s go into another room where we can be private.
solitary; secluded: He wants to meet us in a more private place.
preferring privacy; retiring: a very private person.
intimate; most personal: private behavior.
of, having, or receiving special hospital facilities, privileges, and services, especially a room of one’s own and liberal visiting hours: a private room; a private patient.
of lowest military rank.
of, relating to, or coming from nongovernmental sources: private funding.

noun

a soldier of one of the three lowest enlisted ranks.
privates. private parts.

Idioms

in private, not publicly; secretly: The hearing will be conducted in private.

Origin of private 1350–1400; Middle English Latin prīvātus private, literally, taken away (from public affairs), special use of past participle of prīvāre to rob. See deprive, -ate1 Related formspri·vate·ly, adverbpri·vate·ness, nounqua·si-pri·vate, adjectivequa·si-pri·vate·ly, adverbun·pri·vate, adjectiveun·pri·vate·ly, adverbun·pri·vate·ness, nounSynonyms for private 2. singular, particular, peculiar. 10. sequestered, retired.Antonyms for private 2. general, public. Examples from the Web for quasi-private Historical Examples of quasi-private

Even for their quasi-private affairs, the kings sought for an oracle.

The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria

Morris Jastrow

Going through its corridors one day I took a wrong turning and found I was among some at least quasi-private rooms.

Crowded Out! and Other Sketches

Susie F. Harrison

These were informal, quasi-private affairs, which nevertheless attracted notice owing to the celebrity of the speaker.

The Life of John Ruskin

W. G. Collingwood

British Dictionary definitions for quasi-private private adjective

not widely or publicly knownthey had private reasons for the decision
confidential; secreta private conversation
not for general or public usea private bathroom
(prenominal) individual; specialmy own private recipe
(prenominal) having no public office, rank, etca private man
(prenominal) denoting a soldier of the lowest military ranka private soldier
of, relating to, or provided by a private individual or organization, rather than by the state or a public bodythe private sector; private housing
(of a place) retired; sequestered; not overlooked
(of a person) reserved; uncommunicative
in private in secret; confidentially

noun

a soldier of the lowest rank, sometimes separated into qualification grades, in many armies and marine corpsprivate first class

Derived Formsprivately, adverbWord Origin for private C14: from Latin prīvātus belonging to one individual, withdrawn from public life, from prīvāre to deprive, bereave Word Origin and History for quasi-private private adj.

late 14c., “pertaining or belonging to oneself, not shared, individual; not open to the public;” of a religious rule, “not shared by Christians generally, distinctive; from Latin privatus “set apart, belonging to oneself (not to the state), peculiar, personal,” used in contrast to publicus, communis; past participle of privare “to separate, deprive,” from privus “one’s own, individual,” from PIE *prei-wo-, from PIE *prai-, *prei-, from root *per- (1) “forward, through” (see per).

Old English in this sense had syndrig. Private grew popular 17c. as an alternative to common (adj.), which had overtones of condescention. Of persons, “not holding public office,” recorded from early 15c. In private “privily” is from 1580s. Related: Privately. Private school is from 1650s. Private parts “the pudenda” is from 1785. Private enterprise first recorded 1797; private property by 1680s; private sector is from 1948. Private eye “private detective” is recorded from 1938, American English.

private n.

1590s, “private citizen,” short for private person “individual not involved in government” (early 15c.), or from Latin privatus “man in private life,” noun use of the adjective; 1781 in the military sense, short for Private soldier “one below the rank of a non-commissioned officer” (1570s), from private (adj.).

Idioms and Phrases with quasi-private private

In addition to the idiom beginning with private

private eye

also see:

free (private) enterprise

in private