Privateness

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.

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[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.]

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private·ly adv.

private·ness n.

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	privateness - the condition of being concealed or hidden concealment, privacy, secrecy isolation - a state of separation between persons or groups covertness, hiddenness - the state of being covert and hidden bosom - the chest considered as the place where secret thoughts are kept; "his bosom was bursting with the secret" confidentiality - the state of being secret; "you must respect the confidentiality of your client's communications" hiding - the state of being hidden; "he went into hiding"
	2.	privateness - the quality of being secluded from the presence or view of others privacy, seclusion reclusiveness - a disposition to prefer seclusion or isolation