## 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
- War & Conflict

markdown

private

Meanings

Thesaurus

Common collocations

Etymology

Topics

External links

Keyboard Shortcuts

General

Send feedback