Privy
adj, noun ·Common ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 An outdoor facility for urination and defecation, whether open (latrine) or enclosed (outhouse).
- 2 a small outbuilding with a bench having holes through which a user can defecate wordnet
- 3 A lavatory: a room with a toilet.
"To counteract these degrading effects he advised that the privy should be in every house the room nearest to heaven, […]."
- 4 a room or building equipped with one or more toilets wordnet
- 5 A toilet: a fixture used for urination and defecation.
"Arconum—I found two chairs wanting in the gentlemen's room, and the bath room attached applied to other purposes... the privies and urinaries clean..."
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- 6 A partaker; one having an interest in an action, contract, etc. to which he is not himself a party.
- 1 Private, exclusive; not public; one's own. historical
"The king retreated to his privy chamber."
- 2 Secret, hidden, concealed. archaic
"Nonetheless, in the dark and privy stillness of our minds there are few of us who are not still haunted by worrisome doubts."
- 3 With knowledge of; party to; let in on.
"He was privy to the discussions."
- 1 (followed by ‘to’) informed about something secret or not generally known wordnet
- 2 hidden from general view or use wordnet
Antonyms
All antonymsExample
More examples"I'm not privy to their decisions."
Etymology
From Middle English pryvy, prive, from Old French privé (“private”), from Latin prīvātus (“deprived”), perfect passive participle of prīvō (“I bereave, deprive; I free, release”). Doublet of private.
Related phrases
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.