priv·et

(prĭv′ĭt)

1. Any of various shrubs of the genus Ligustrum, especially L. vulgare, having opposite leaves and clusters of white flowers and widely used for hedges.

2. Any of several similar or related plants.

[Origin unknown.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

privet

(ˈprɪvɪt)

(Plants)

a. any oleaceous shrub of the genus Ligustrum, esp L. vulgare or L. ovalifolium, having oval dark green leaves, white flowers, and purplish-black berries

b. (as modifier): a privet hedge.

[C16: of unknown origin]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

priv•et

(ˈprɪv ɪt)

n.

any deciduous or evergreen shrubs of the genus Ligustrum, of the olive family, esp. L. vulgare, having small white flowers and commonly grown as a hedge.

[1535–45; orig. uncertain]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

privet - any of various Old World shrubs having smooth entire leaves and terminal panicles of small white flowers followed by small black berries; many used for hedges

genus Ligustrum, Ligustrum - genus of Old World shrubs: privet

Amur privet, Ligustrum amurense - eastern Asian shrub cultivated especially for its persistent foliage

ibolium privet, ibota privet, Ligustrum ibolium - fast-growing and tightly branched hybrid of Ligustrum ovalifolium and Ligustrum obtusifolium

Japanese privet, Ligustrum japonicum - evergreen shrub of Japan and Korea having small dark leaves and flowers in loose panicles; related to but smaller than Chinese privet

Chinese privet, Ligustrum lucidum, white wax tree - erect evergreen treelike shrub of China and Korea and Japan having acuminate leaves and flowers in long erect panicles; resembles Japanese privet

Ligustrum obtusifolium - small deciduous shrub having graceful arching branches and luxuriant foliage

California privet, Ligustrum ovalifolium - semi-evergreen Japanese shrub having malodorous flowers; used extensively for hedges because more likely to stay green that common privet

common privet, Ligustrum vulgare - deciduous semi-evergreen shrub used for hedges

bush, shrub - a low woody perennial plant usually having several major stems

Translations

troène

ligustro

liguster

privet

[ˈprɪvɪt]

A. N → alheña f

B. CPD privet hedge N → seto m vivo

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

privet

[ˈprɪvɪt] n → troène m privet hedgeprivet hedge n → haie f de troènes

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

privet

n → (gemeiner) Liguster; privet hedge → Ligusterhecke f

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

privet

[ˈprɪvɪt] n → ligustro

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

"I'm not equal to answering," said Sancho, "for I feel as if I was speaking through my shoulders; let us mount and get away from this; I'll keep from braying, but not from saying that knights-errant fly and leave their good squires to be pounded like privet, or made meal of at the hands of their enemies."

View in context

The close green walls of privet, that had bordered the principal walk, were two-thirds withered away, and the rest grown beyond all reasonable bounds; the old boxwood swan, that sat beside the scraper, had lost its neck and half its body: the castellated towers of laurel in the middle of the garden, the gigantic warrior that stood on one side of the gateway, and the lion that guarded the other, were sprouted into such fantastic shapes as resembled nothing either in heaven or earth, or in the waters under the earth; but, to my young imagination, they presented all of them a goblinish appearance, that harmonised well with the ghostly legions and dark traditions our old nurse had told us respecting the haunted hall and its departed occupants.

View in context

My brother saw dimly through the dust that two men lifted out something on a white stretcher and put it gently on the grass beneath the privet hedge.

As they passed the bend in the lane my brother saw the face of the dying man in the ditch under the privet, deadly white and drawn, and shining with perspi- ration.

View in context

This is a semicircle cut into the lawn and edged with privet, and in this semicircle are eleven beds of different sizes bordered with box and arranged round a sun-dial, and the sun-dial is very venerable and moss-grown, and greatly beloved by me.

View in context

Passing along the Ridgeway to the west for about a mile, we come to a little clump of young beech and firs, with a growth of thorn and privet underwood.

View in context

One side of the porte-cochere, being left open, allowed the passers in the street to see in the midst of the vast courtyard a flower-bed, the raised earth of which was held in place by a low privet hedge.

View in context

Nothing was to be seen save that some body or bundle had been dragged through a low privet hedge which is in a line with the wood-pile.

View in context

But now those rabbits too, plus their dad, have been savaged by the same dogs, which are often left to roam on a nearby field and have again managed to burrow through a privet hedge to get to the rabbit hutch.

Pet rabbits are killed by dogs; Now family fears for children too

If you have a need of a hedge, it is common to think of using yew, or privet. The value of yew is that it is evergreen, but it is damaged by deer and requires yearly pruning.

Blueberry bushes more than a shrub

A systematic survey of Chinese privet foliage, stems, seeds, and roots for associated phytophagous insects was conducted in China during 2005 and 2006 in order to establish basic information about the insect communities that Chinese privet harbors and to evaluate the abundance and damage caused by these insects.

Survey for potential insect biological control agents of Ligustrum sinense (Scrophulariales: Oleaceae) in China

- Privet Sector Demands Participation in Market Monitoring

Business In Brief (Business)