Result from Foreign Dictionaries (3 entries found)

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]: Private \Pri"vate\ (?; 48), a. [L. privatus apart from the state, peculiar to an individual, private, properly p. p. of privare to bereave, deprive, originally, to separate, fr. privus single, private, perhaps originally, put forward (hence, alone, single) and akin to prae before. See {Prior}, a., and cf. {Deprive}, {Privy}, a.] 1. Belonging to, or concerning, an individual person, company, or interest; peculiar to one's self; unconnected with others; personal; one's own; not public; not general; separate; as, a man's private opinion; private property; a private purse; private expenses or interests; a private secretary. [1913 Webster] 2. Sequestered from company or observation; appropriated to an individual; secret; secluded; lonely; solitary; as, a private room or apartment; private prayer. [1913 Webster] Reason . . . then retires Into her private cell when nature rests. --Milton. [1913 Webster] 3. Not invested with, or engaged in, public office or employment; as, a private citizen; private life. --Shak. [1913 Webster] A private person may arrest a felon. --Blackstone. [1913 Webster] 4. Not publicly known; not open; secret; as, a private negotiation; a private understanding. [1913 Webster] 5. Having secret or private knowledge; privy. [Obs.] [1913 Webster] {Private act} or {Private statute}, a statute exclusively for the settlement of private and personal interests, of which courts do not take judicial notice; -- opposed to a {general law}, which operates on the whole community. In the United States Congress, similar private acts are referred to as {private law} and a general law as a {public law}. {Private nuisance} or {wrong}. See {Nuisance}. {Private soldier}. See {Private}, n., 5. {Private way}, a right of private passage over another man's ground; also, a road on private land, contrasted with {public road}, which is on a public right of way. --Kent. [1913 Webster +PJC] From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]: Private \Pri"vate\ (pr[imac]"v[asl]t), n. 1. A secret message; a personal unofficial communication. [Obs.] --Shak. [1913 Webster] 2. Personal interest; particular business.[Obs.] [1913 Webster] Nor must I be unmindful of my private. --B. Jonson. [1913 Webster] 3. Privacy; retirement. [Archaic] "Go off; I discard you; let me enjoy my private." --Shak. [1913 Webster] 4. One not invested with a public office. [Archaic] [1913 Webster] What have kings, that privates have not too? --Shak. [1913 Webster] 5. (Mil.) A common soldier; a soldier below the grade of a noncommissioned officer. --Macaulay. [1913 Webster] 6. pl. The private parts; the genitals. [1913 Webster] {In private}, secretly; not openly or publicly. [1913 Webster] From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]: private adj 1: confined to particular persons or groups or providing privacy; "a private place"; "private discussions"; "private lessons"; "a private club"; "a private secretary"; "private property"; "the former President is now a private citizen"; "public figures struggle to maintain a private life" [ant: {public}] 2: concerning things deeply private and personal; "private correspondence"; "private family matters" 3: concerning one person exclusively; "we all have individual cars"; "each room has a private bath" [syn: {individual(a)}, {private}] 4: not expressed; "secret (or private) thoughts" [syn: {secret}, {private}] n 1: an enlisted man of the lowest rank in the Army or Marines; "our prisoner was just a private and knew nothing of value" [syn: {private}, {buck private}, {common soldier}]