in private

pri·vate  (prvt)

adj.

1.

a. Secluded from the sight, presence, or intrusion of others: a private hideaway.

b. Designed or intended for one's exclusive use: a private room.

2.

a. Of or confined to the individual; personal: a private joke; private opinions.

b. Undertaken on an individual basis: private studies; private research.

c. Of, relating to, or receiving special hospital services and privileges: a private patient.

3. Not available for public use, control, or participation: a private club; a private party.

4.

a. Belonging to a particular person or persons, as opposed to the public or the government: private property.

b. Of, relating to, or derived from nongovernment sources: private funding.

c. Conducted and supported primarily by individuals or groups not affiliated with governmental agencies or corporations: a private college; a private sanatorium.

d. Enrolled in or attending a private school: a private student.

5. Not holding an official or public position: a private citizen.

6.

a. Not for public knowledge or disclosure; secret: private papers; a private communication.

b. Not appropriate for use or display in public; intimate: private behavior; a private tragedy.

c. Placing a high value on personal privacy: a private person.

n.

1.

a. Abbr. PVT or Pvt or Pvt. A noncommissioned rank in the U.S. Army or Marine Corps that is below private first class.

b. One who holds this rank or a similar rank in a military organization.

2. privates Private parts. Often used with the.

Idioms:

go private

To take a publicly owned company into private ownership, as by a leveraged buyout.

in private

Not in public; secretly or confidentially.

---

[Middle English privat, from Latin prvtus, not in public life, past participle of prvre, to release, deprive, from prvus, single, alone; see per¹ in Indo-European roots.]

---

private·ly adv.

private·ness n.

Thesaurus

Adv.

1.

in private - kept private or confined to those intimately concerned; "it was discussed privately between the two men"; "privately, she thought differently"; "some member of his own party hoped privately for his defeat"; "he was questioned in private" in camera, privately