private

A2 Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈpɹaɪ.vɪt/ UK [ˈpʰɹaɪ̯vɪt] See IPA manual

Freq #976

Meanings

1

adj
Meant for one particular person or group, not for everyone.

This is a private beach for hotel guests only.
2

adj
Secret or personal; not meant to be shared with others.

She kept her feelings private and told no one.
3

adj
Owned or run by a person or company, not by the government.

They sent their son to a private school.
4

noun
A soldier of the lowest rank in the army.

He joined the army as a private and slowly rose through the ranks.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

2 adj · secret or personal; not... secret confidential

4 noun · a soldier of the lowest... common soldier

Opposites

public

Word family

Forms privates

Appears in

Phrases (10)

See all

private school
a school funded by fees rather than the government

Adjective + noun
private club
a club restricted to members only, not open to the public

Adjective + noun
private company
a company whose shares are not traded on a public stock exchange

Adjective + noun
private conversation
a talk intended only for the people directly involved

Adjective + noun
private detective
a detective who works independently for private clients rather than for the police

Adjective + noun
private joke
A joke understood only by a small group who share a common reference

Adjective + noun

Simplified etymology

Private comes ultimately from Latin privare “to bereave, deprive,” based on privus “single, individual.” A private person was literally someone withdrawn from public life and acting as an ordinary citizen; from this developed such senses as an ordinary soldier rather than an officer. The noun privates for the genitals is recorded from about 1450.

Etymology

From Middle English privat(e) (“individual, exclusive, private”), from Latin prīvātus (“bereaved, deprived, set apart from, release”), perfect passive participle of prīvō (“to bereave, deprive, release”) (see -ate (adjective-forming suffix) for more), from prīvus (“private, one's own, proper”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *per; compare prime, prior, pristine. Doublet of privy.

privat Middle English prīvātus Latin *per Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities

External links

# private

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A2
**Part of speech:** adj, noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈpɹaɪ.vɪt/
**IPA (UK):** [ˈpʰɹaɪ̯vɪt]
**Frequency rank:** 976

## Meanings
1. Meant for one particular person or group, not for everyone.
2. Secret or personal; not meant to be shared with others.
3. Owned or run by a person or company, not by the government.
4. A soldier of the lowest rank in the army.

## Examples
- This is a private beach for hotel guests only.
- She kept her feelings private and told no one.
- They sent their son to a private school.
- He joined the army as a private and slowly rose through the ranks.

## Antonyms
- public

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: privat
- Root: prīvātus
- Root: *per

## Etymology
From Middle English privat(e) (“individual, exclusive, private”), from Latin prīvātus (“bereaved, deprived, set apart from, release”), perfect passive participle of prīvō (“to bereave, deprive, release”) (see -ate (adjective-forming suffix) for more), from prīvus (“private, one's own, proper”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *per; compare prime, prior, pristine. Doublet of privy.

## AI Etymology
Private comes from Middle English privat(e) (“individual, exclusive, private”), from Latin prīvātus (“bereaved, deprived, set apart from, release”), perfect passive participle of prīvō (“to bereave, deprive, release”) (see -ate (adjective-forming suffix) for more), from prīvus (“private, one's own, proper”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *per; compare prime, prior, pristine. Doublet of privy. In present-day English it covers meant for one particular person or group, not for everyone, secret or personal; not meant to be shared with others, and owned or run by a person or company, not by the government.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

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