英文字典中文字典Word104.com

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 (gcide)

Private \Pri"vate\ (?; 48), a. [L. privatus apart from the
state, peculiar to an individual, private, properly p. p. of
privare to bereave, deprive, originally, to separate, fr.
privus single, private, perhaps originally, put forward
(hence, alone, single) and akin to prae before. See {Prior},
a., and cf. {Deprive}, {Privy}, a.]
1. Belonging to, or concerning, an individual person,
company, or interest; peculiar to one's self; unconnected
with others; personal; one's own; not public; not general;
separate; as, a man's private opinion; private property; a
private purse; private expenses or interests; a private
secretary.
[1913 Webster]

2. Sequestered from company or observation; appropriated to
an individual; secret; secluded; lonely; solitary; as, a
private room or apartment; private prayer.
[1913 Webster]

Reason . . . then retires
Into her private cell when nature rests. --Milton.
[1913 Webster]

3. Not invested with, or engaged in, public office or
employment; as, a private citizen; private life. --Shak.
[1913 Webster]

A private person may arrest a felon. --Blackstone.
[1913 Webster]

4. Not publicly known; not open; secret; as, a private
negotiation; a private understanding.
[1913 Webster]

5. Having secret or private knowledge; privy. [Obs.]
[1913 Webster]

{Private act} or {Private statute}, a statute exclusively for
the settlement of private and personal interests, of which
courts do not take judicial notice; -- opposed to a
{general law}, which operates on the whole community. In
the United States Congress, similar private acts are
referred to as {private law} and a general law as a
{public law}.

{Private nuisance} or {wrong}. See {Nuisance}.

{Private soldier}. See {Private}, n., 5.

{Private way}, a right of private passage over another man's
ground; also, a road on private land, contrasted with
{public road}, which is on a public right of way. --Kent.
[1913 Webster PJC]


Private \Pri"vate\ (pr[imac]"v[asl]t), n.
1. A secret message; a personal unofficial communication.
[Obs.] --Shak.
[1913 Webster]

2. Personal interest; particular business.[Obs.]
[1913 Webster]

Nor must I be unmindful of my private. --B. Jonson.
[1913 Webster]

3. Privacy; retirement. [Archaic] "Go off; I discard you; let
me enjoy my private." --Shak.
[1913 Webster]

4. One not invested with a public office. [Archaic]
[1913 Webster]

What have kings, that privates have not too? --Shak.
[1913 Webster]

5. (Mil.) A common soldier; a soldier below the grade of a
noncommissioned officer. --Macaulay.
[1913 Webster]

6. pl. The private parts; the genitals.
[1913 Webster]

{In private}, secretly; not openly or publicly.
[1913 Webster]