| 释义 |
▪ I. private, a. (n.)|ˈpraɪvət|
Also 4–6 pryvat, -e, 4–7 privat, 6 privit, -att, pryvatte, Sc. prevat, 6–7 privet.
[ad. L. prīvāt-us withdrawn from public life, deprived of office, peculiar to oneself, private; as n. a man in private life; prop. pa. pple. of prīv-āre to bereave, deprive: see prive v.]
A. adj. In general, the opposite of public.
†1. ? Withdrawn or separated from the public body: by Wyclif applied to the orders of the friars. Obs.
c1380Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. I. 67 Þis asse and hir fole ben comen to þes pryvat ordris, but not to alle Cristene men. c1380― De Ecclesia v. ibid. III. 350 Comunly þes pryvat prioures letten þer felowes here to go out.
2. a. Of a person: Not holding public office or official position.
1432–50tr. Higden (Rolls) IV. 63 A crye was made..that priuate persones [orig. privatæ personæ] scholde brynge theire goodes to the place of treasure. 1432–50[see privy a. 3, quot. 1387]. c1460Fortescue Abs. & Lim. Mon. vii. (1885) 125 He lyved..in more subgeccion than doth a priuate person. 1548–9(Mar.) Bk. Com. Prayer, Ceremonies, The appoyntmente..pertayneth not to pryuate menne. 1579J. Stubbes Gaping Gulf B vij, Whereas mariage is the moste important matter euen to the privatest person that hee can doe all his life long. 1644Milton Areop. (Arb.) 49 No Poet should so much as read to any privat man, what he had writt'n. 1673J. Ray Observations Journey Low-Countries 305 When the Gallies are at home those [slaves] that belong to private persons are permitted to lodge in their Masters houses. 1712Steele Spect. No. 429 ⁋8 A Woman of Quality; married to a private Gentleman. 1817J. Evans Excurs. Windsor, etc. 72 It was a most uncommon thing for a private man, and a commoner, to be honoured with so long an audience. 1885List of Subscribers, Classified (United Telephone Co.) (ed. 6) 233 (Advt.), The Birkbeck Bank opens Drawing Accounts with trading firms and private individuals. 1898Westm. Gaz. 16 Mar. 2/3 As for the usurer who advertises himself as a private gentleman, Mr. Justice Hawkins grimly said that he would make him a ‘private gentleman’ for some time. 1930G. B. Shaw Apple Cart p. xviii, Socialists have said to me that they were converted by seeing that the nation had to choose, not between governmental control of industry and control by separate private individuals [etc.]. Ibid. p. xix, We cannot do this as private persons. It must be done by the Government or not at all. 1931M. Allingham Look to Lady xiv. 150 When publicity is fatal..then the private individual has to get busy on his own account. 1960N. Mitford Don't tell Alfred iii. 41 If my husband were a private person, none of this would matter. 1975N. Freeling What are Bugles blowing For? xi. 67, I find it miserable. Everyone so callous... But I'm just a private individual. 1978Verbatim Sept. 1/1 In certain circles, it has become popular to the point of irritation to characterize every eremitical, dyspeptic, close-mouthed selfish crank as a private person.
b. private soldier: an ordinary soldier without rank or distinction of any kind; also † private man. Cf. common soldier (common a. 12 b).
1579Digges Stratiot. 152 They can doe no more than Privat Souldiors. 1597Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, iii. ii. 177, I cannot put him to a priuate souldier, that is the Leader of so many thousands. 1691Lond. Gaz. No. 2629/2 We lost 6 private Men, and had 15 wounded. 1698Ludlow Mem. I. 192 Pretending..to keep the private soldiers, for they would no longer be called common soldiers, from running into greater extravagancies and disorders. 1796Pegge Anonym. (1809) 164 Application..on behalf of a private man that had deserted from an independent company just as they were embarking for North America. 1844Regul. & Ord. Army 176 All the Officers, Non-commissioned Officers, Drummers, and Private Men, who may be at Home, are to be accounted for. 1898E. J. Hardy in United Service Mag. Mar. 646 Another expression, which is far more objectionable [than the name ‘Tommy Atkins’], is to speak of a ‘common soldier’ instead of a private soldier.
c. private member, a member of the House of Commons who is not a member of the Ministry. Hence private member's bill, a bill introduced in Parliament by a private member.
In quot. 1606 private member means ‘not a member of the Privy Council’.
1606House of Commons Jrnl. 13 May I. 308/2 Petitions heretofore delivered by the Privy Council:... 28 et 43 Eliz... Last Session, by Mr. Hare, a private Member. 1835Mirror of Parliament 25 Feb. 69/2 In the last Session, Wednesday was usually devoted to Bills brought in by private Members of Parliament... The Chancellor of the Exchequer.—Nobody is more sensible than I am of the extent to which the country is often indebted to private Members, who undertake the management of public Bills. 1852Disraeli Ld. G. Bentinck xxvii. 580 Instead of experiencing the usual and almost inevitable doom of private members of parliament and having his statements shattered by official information, Lord George Bentinck on the contrary was the assailant and the successful assailant of an adminstration on these very heads. 1863H. Cox Instit. i. ix. 138 The portion of each session allotted to measures promoted by private members is..limited. 1883Stubbs' Merc. Circular 26 Sept. 862/1 It is almost hopeless for a private member to get an opportunity of bringing on a Bill before half-past twelve. 1908J. Redlich Procedure House of Commons I. ii. iii. 173 This, it was complained, was done systematically, and the result had been to destroy all chance of private members' bills being carried. 1930Daily Express 6 Nov. 19/2 It was a private members' day, on which neither Government policy nor the fate of the Government came up for discussion. 1939W. I. Jennings Parliament vii. 180 Many private members' Bills are ‘inspired’ by interests outside. 1950Erskine May's Law of Parl. (ed. 15) xiv. 287 Private Members' bills have precedence on Friday up to the Friday before Good Friday. 1964Abraham & Hawtrey Parl. Dict. (ed. 2) 31 Private member's bill, a public bill introduced by a private member... It must be carefully distinguished from a private bill. 1969Listener 10 July 37/2 Seldom is a government prepared to offend many of its supporters in Parliament and the country by making itself responsible for contentious reforming measures. Private members' legislation is therefore a necessity. 1976H. Wilson Governance of Britain x. 171 Any Private Member's Bill, such as those which under Standing Orders can be introduced for a limited period of the year under a procedure of balloting for priority, must if a penny of public expenditure is involved carry with it the cachet of ‘Queen's recommendation signified’.
d. private trader, one who trades on his own account, as distinguished from an agent of a public company. Also private trade, private trading.
1616in W. Foster Lett. E. Ind. Co. (1901) V. 119 With the intelligence concerning the private traders of Captain Downton's merchants. 1671in Publ. Hudson's Bay Rec. Soc. (1942) V. 5 That Capta. Guillam & all others..bee examined what private trade hath bin by them. 1821G. Simpson Jrnl. 8 Jan. in Ibid. (1938) I. 212 Chastellan & Lamallice..are renewing their old practice of carrying on Private Trade with the Indians. 1929Times 26 Feb. 17/5 He courageously scrapped his own Bolshevist economic theories in 1921 and reinaugurated private trading. 1965B. Pearce tr. Preobrazhensky's New Econ. 97 At the present moment the State Bank hardly grants any credits to private trade and industry. 1979Guardian 12 Nov. 7/1 Most trading skills, shops and trucks remain in the hands of private traders. Private trading is not illegal.
†e. Of a city or town: That is not a seat of government. Obs. rare.
1632Lithgow Trav. vii. 334 This Citty..was once the Capitall seat of the Kingdom, though now..it is onely become a priuate place.
f. private detective, private investigator, a detective who is engaged privately and is not a member of an official police force. Also (orig. U.S.) in colloq. and slang collocations, as private dick (dick n.6); private eye (eye n.1 3 d); also (with hyphen) attrib.; hence as vb. intr. and private-eyeing vbl. n.
(a)1868Trollope He Knew (1869) I. xix. 150 ‘The man was a policeman once.’ ‘What we call a private detective.’ 1873G. Lening Dark Side N.Y. Life 59 A jealous wife engages a private detective to watch her husband. 1898F. Remington Crooked Trails i. 19 He rode a Spanish pony..and arrested Polk, his guide, and two private detectives, whom Polk had bribed to set him over the Rio Grande. 1905Chesterton Club of Queer Trades i. 40 Though only a private detective myself, I will take the responsibility. 1936A. Christie ABC Murders v. 38 ‘Then you're not—anything to do with the police, sir?’ ‘I am a private detective.’ 1940R. Chandler Farewell, my Lovely iii. 21 Philip Marlowe, Private Investigator. One of those guys, huh? 1965D. Francis Odds Against v. 71 The one thing people want when they employ private investigators is privacy. 1974V. Gielgud In Such a Night ii. 17 Giacomo told me of your reputation as a private investigator. 1975J. Wainwright Square Dance 173 You'd be surprised how professional..some of the better provincial private detective agencies are.
(b)1912A. H. Lewis Apaches N.Y. vi. 128 But w'at wit' th' stores full of private dicks a booster can't do much. 1938R. Chandler in Dime Detective June 23/1 We don't use any private eyes in here. So sorry. 1939― Big Sleep xviii. 127 Ohls pulled a chair up and sat down and said: ‘Evening, Cronjager. Meet Phil Marlowe, a private eye who's in a jam.’ 1946E. O'Neill Iceman Cometh i. 14 Yuh remember dey used to send down a private dick to give him the rush to a cure, but de lawyer tells Harry nix, de old lady's off of Willie for keeps dis time and he can go to hell. 1952Wodehouse Pigs have Wings i. 20 ‘You mean she's a sleuth?..’ ‘Substantially that, miss. I gather that she leaves the rougher work to her subordinates.’ ‘Still she's a genuine private eye.’ 1962[see gum-shoe s.v. gum n.2 9]. 1964Wodehouse Frozen Assets vi. 119, I imagine private-eye-ing is one of those things where you've either got the knack or you haven't. 1971B. Malamud Tenants 25 He felt in the house,..a presence other than himself. Nothing new but who now? Private eye snooping for one cause or another? 1974E. Ambler Dr. Frigo ii. 98 Isn't all research private-eye work, Doctor? 1975J. Hone Sixth Directorate iv. v. 176 That's not what I'm here for—to carry on your private eyeing for you. 1979G. Swarthout Skeletons 231 She had offered to marry me again..if I would private-eye for her.
g. private army, an army not recruited by the State; a mercenary force. Also transf. and fig.
1941W. Temple Citizen & Churchman ii. 25 Anything like a ‘private army’ is a contradiction of the civilized state. 1950V. Peniakoff Private Army Part iv (title) Popski's private army. 1959M. Gilbert Blood & Judgement ix. 95 The police were a private army. 1964Gould & Kolb Dict. Social Sci. 482/2 Factions, cliques..private armies, lobbies, pressure groups..are terms which, like party, denote voluntary associations to influence government. 1968N.Y. Times 23 July 41 (heading) Norman Mailer enlists his private army to act in film. 1968‘J. Welcome’ Hell is where you find It i. 15 The security and secret services, so called, had recently..been shaken up and amalgamated... We were an off-shoot, a semi⁓amateur show, a private army. 1969D. Bagley Spoilers v. 60 ‘Some of my patients had been cutting up ructions at the Howard Club. Johnny didn't like it.’ ‘And you had to take your own private army to back you up?’ 1979J. Rathbone Euro-Killers ii. 27 Their riot sticks..infuriated him—he hated private armies.
h. private developer (see developer f).
1961Kentish Times 28 July 10 There is little land left in the urban district, with its Green Belt setting, for either Council or private developer. 1965New Society 26 Aug. 6/1 A modern civic centre to be built by a private developer under council guidance. 1970Guardian 17 Aug. 5/2 The private developer is in a better position to judge the demands for development than the planner. 1972Country Life 25 May 1330/1 Berkshire has given planning permission for some 18,000 houses, of which private developers build less than 3,000 new houses a year. 1975Times 30 Aug. 13/5 How many private developers are interested in urban renewal?
3. a. Kept or removed from public view or knowledge; not within the cognizance of people generally; concealed, secret.
1472–3Rolls of Parlt. VI. 29/2 After that dyvers of the Lordes and Knyghtes of the Shires were departed, by mervelous pryvat labour, a Bille signed by the Kyng was brought to the seid Commens..conteignyng an Ordynaunce to be made. 1593Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, ii. ii. 60 In this priuate Plot be we the first, That shall salute our rightfull Soueraigne. 1615R. Brathwait Strappado (1878) 120 Which he suspecting, lay in private wait, To catch the knaue. 1669R. Mountagu in Buccleuch MSS. (Hist. MSS. Comm.) I. 441 She desired..to send it over in my name, because that way it would be privater. 1677Lady Eliz. Berkeley in Hatton Corr. (Camden) 143 They have not acquainted you wth Lady Alethea's privet wedding. 1700Tyrrell Hist. Eng. II. 842 He lay private, till his Peace was made with the King. 1726Leoni Alberti's Archit. I. 52/1 If the sound comes to you dead, and flat, it is a sign of some private [It. interna] infirmity. 1890Lippincott's Mag. Jan. 13, It should be kept private for a time.
b. private parts, the external organs of sex, the pudenda. Also transf. and fig.
[1634Sir T. Herbert Trav. 41 A cloth which should couer those parts, made to be priuate.] 1785Grose Dict. Vulgar T., Commodity, a woman's commodity; the private parts of a modest woman, and the public parts of a prostitute. 1853Law Jrnl. Rep. XXXI. iii. 123/1 What do you mean in law by exposing his person? The indictment should have been for exposing his private parts. 1885–8Fagge & Pye-Smith Princ. Med. (ed. 2) I. 188 She mentioned..that she had severe pain in micturition, and that her private parts were swollen. a1930D. H. Lawrence Last Poems (1932) 157 The reddened limbs..and the half-hidden private parts. 1959I. & P. Opie Lore & Lang. Schoolch. vi. 96 It may be a verse in which the private parts are mentioned, as in the baby-washing songs of Tiny Tim. 1969Listener 27 Feb. 282/1 He has an objection to ‘showing his private parts’ to the reader; and to this modesty, as much as to his dreadful loquacity, must, alas, be ascribed his failure to produce the great autobiography that one might have expected from him. 1971Farmer & Stockbreeder 23 Feb. 30/1 Major Ogilvie recalls some mothers feeling embarrassed at having to see the ‘private parts’ of an animal's body—like teats and udders—being handled by a man.
4. a. Of a thing: Not open to the public; restricted or intended only for the use or enjoyment of particular and privileged persons. Also, as a sign or notice indicating that a room or the like is private.
1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xix. cxxix. (Add. MSS.) Þe priuate wey longiþ to nyȝe towne and is schort and nyȝ and ofte y growe wiþ gras. 1477Rolls of Parlt. VI. 185/2 In pryvat and pryvileged places. 1535Stewart Cron. Scot. (Rolls) II. 63 Quhair he wes bureit in ane prevat place. 1613Shakes. Hen. VIII, iii. i. 28 May it please you Noble Madam, to withdraw Into your priuate Chamber. 1638R. Brathwait Barnabees Jrnl. (1818) 187 This place it is private. 1817W. Selwyn Law Nisi Prius (ed. 4) II. 1242 A person having a private way over the land of another, cannot, when the way is become impassable by the overflowing of a river, justify going on the adjoining land. 1838Lytton Alice ii. ii, A private staircase conducted into the gardens. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. vi. II. 142 News which reached him through private channels. a1911D. G. Phillips Susan Lenox (1917) II. xi. 285 The frosted glass door marked ‘Private’. 1973‘D. Craig’ Bolthole i. 15 He saw a wide staircase with a tasselled rope across it and a Private sign. 1973G. Mitchell Murder of Busy Lizzie xv. 177 My sitting-room is the one marked private.
†b. private (play) house: see quot. 1891. Obs.
a1625Fletcher Nice Valour iv. i, I hope To save my hundred gentlemen a-month by it; Which will be very good for the private house. 1637Shirley (title) The Gamester. As it was presented by her Majesties Servants At the private House in Drury-Lane. 1891R. W. Lowe T. Betterton iii. 60 The Cockpit in Drury Lane..a small theatre, one of those which, before the Civil War, were called ‘Private Houses’. In these the performances took place by candlelight, whereas the larger, or public playhouses, being partly open to the weather, were used only in daylight.
c. In many connexions private is used to distinguish something that is not open to the public, or not publicly done or performed, from a thing of the same kind that is ‘public’, esp. when the normal or usual condition is that of publicity, or when both conditions are common. In this distinctive use, the sense may also be 5, 6, or 7, or may include some notion of 3. Such are private assembly, private function, private meeting, etc.; private baptism, private communion, private education, private funeral, private marriage, private mass; private boarding-house, private brougham, private carriage, private chapel, private hotel, private play, private theatre, private theatricals (also attrib. or as adj.), etc.; see the ns. private bar = lounge bar s.v. lounge n. 4; also ellipt.; private bath(room), a bath(room) set aside for private use, usu. one attached to a room in a hotel or guest house; private beach, a beach that is privately owned, esp. by a hotel for the use of guests; private box (see box n.2 8); private business Eton College slang, extra tuition; private collection, a collection (of paintings or the like) in private possession; private development, development (sense 3 d) undertaken by a private individual or company; private hotel, a residential hotel or boarding house which receives guests only by private arrangement; private inquiry, work undertaken by a private detective (see sense 2 f above); hence private inquiry agency, agent; private joke, a joke understood only by oneself or a privileged few; private motoring, motoring in a privately owned vehicle; so private motorist; private view (e.g. of an exhibition of pictures or the like), whence private viewer, private viewing.
1794Malone Wks. Sir J. Reynolds in Life (1797) p. lv, When not engaged..in some publick or private assembly, or at the theatre.
1662Bk. Com. Prayer, The Ministration of Private Baptism of Children in houses.
1909G. B. Shaw in Nation 28 Aug. 787/2 Mr. Chesterton..sees in every public-house a temple... He enters ostentatiously, throws down all the shields and partitions that make the private bar furtive. 1910H. G. Wells Hist. Mr. Polly viii. 259 The policeman... put his head inside the Private Bar, to the horror of every one there. 1953K. Tennant Joyful Condemned xxxiv. 340 The gossip of the Private Bar. 1963N. Marsh Dead Water (1964) i. 15 There was only one other woman in the private beside Jenny. Ibid. ii. 55 ‘I want another drink. Anyone join me?’.. He made towards the old private bar. 1972M. Gilbert Body of Girl xii. 107 She was in here..just after we opened. She came into the private bar. 1975A. Hunter Gently with Love xxxiii. 132 Come into the private—I would not have you leave without a crack.
1825E. Weeton Jrnl. 14 June (1969) II. 384, I like to bathe alone, and a private bath is just to my taste. 1906‘O. Henry’ Four Million 47 The double front room with private bath. 1910Bradshaw's Railway Guide Apr. 1148 Bedrooms with private bath and telephone. 1974Country Life 21 Mar. 692/3 (Advt.), My bedroom, with its own tv and private bath.
1910Bradshaw's Railway Guide Apr. 1148 Suites of rooms with private Bathrooms. 1961Sphere 6 May 212 A new 1st-class hotel, the Hibiscus, with private beach, opens this summer. 1975S. Brett Cast iii. 24 Marius's got a villa down the South... It's a lovely place. Private beach.
1632, etc. Private box [see box n.2 8]. 1829[see family n. 9 c]. 1897Kipling Let. 1 June in C. E. Carrington Rudyard Kipling (1955) x. 254 We went to the Lyceum... Irving put a private box at our disposal. 1979Country Life 9 Aug. 393/2 The top floor will contain 30 private boxes.
1900J. S. Farmer Public School Word-Bk. 158 Private-business,..extra work with the tutor. 1979D. Newsome On Edge of Paradise ii. 87 Half-an-hour's preparation for his Private Business lecture on Napoleon.
1899R. Fry Let. Oct. (1972) I. 174 He took me to an amazing private collection, full of marvellous drawings and sculptures all looking far better for being in a private place. 1979R. Cox Auction i. 24 There were several Memlings in Austrian private collections. Stefan Zweig owned one.
1961Recreation Dec. 531/1 Areas should..have room around the edges to protect the values of the area from encroachment by private developments. 1971‘D. Halliday’ Dolly & Doctor Bird ii. 19 Coral Harbour is a private development in one of the moneyed quarters of New Providence Island. 1975Times 30 Aug. 13/5 Impressions of the results of the last boom period for private development are still..fresh.
1581Mulcaster Positions xxxix. (heading) Of priuate and publike education, with their generall goods and illes. 1699Locke Educ. (ed. 4) §70 The Faults of a Privater Education.
1857G. H. Lewes Jrnl. 11–18 May in Geo. Eliot Lett. (1954) II. 326 We went to Dingley's Private Hotel—very comfortable. 1910Bradshaw's Railway Guide Apr. 1012/2 Cullen's private hotel and family boarding house. 1936[see catch v. 40]. 1960L. Davidson Night of Wenceslas i. 8, I had really borrowed the money from old Imre, who lived in the same private hotel. 1962Bull & Richardson Hotel & Catering Law (rev. ed.) iii. 37 This chapter is concerned with premises which are not conducted as ‘inns’, that is with private premises as distinct from public premises. It is convenient to refer to such premises as ‘private hotels’, this term also including guest houses, boarding-houses, apartment houses, and similar places. Ibid., The private hotel proprietor reserves to himself the right to pick and choose his guests, and does not hold himself out as willing to receive anyone who calls. He makes a separate contract, either written or verbal, with his guests. 1970C. Whitman Death out of Focus x. 153 It was a typical private hotel bedroom. 1972Times 1 Apr. 14/1 The very words ‘boarding house’ are out. Now it is ‘guest house’ at the very least, and possibly even ‘private hotel’.
1874M. Clarke His Natural Life iii. xxii. 331, I dabbled a little in the Private Inquiry line of business. 1892Private inquiry agency [see inquiry, enquiry 4]. 1897A. Morrison Dorrington Deed-Box ii. 98 Your respectable talents will be devoted to the service of Dorrington & Hicks, private inquiry agents. 1922Private inquiry agent [see inquiry, enquiry 4]. 1948‘J. Tey’ Franchise Affair x. 106 We cannot expect you to turn yourself into a private inquiry agent on our behalf. 1973R. Lewis Of Singular Purpose v. 113 All solicitors use private enquiry agents... They are often ex-policemen. 1974‘M. Innes’ Appleby's Other Story xxiii. 181 Miss Kentwell works for a private enquiry agency..of the highest repute.
1949E. Coxhead Wind in West i. 19 She answered it [sc. an advertisement]..for a sort of private joke. 1978J. McNeil Consultant v. 68 Susan had learned.. not to ask for explanations of Webb's private jokes.
1560Private mass [see mass n.1 3]. 1885Catholic Dict. 565/2 In all private Masses the priest must have at least a server to represent the body of the faithful.
1816Galt Benj. West 51 A private meeting of the Friends [i.e. Quakers] was appointed to be holden at his father's house.
1974Country Life 2 May 1050/1 The restrictions on private motoring caused by the higher cost of petrol. 1976Times 3 Aug. 2/1 Between 1964 and 1974 passenger traffic increased by 40 per cent, private motoring growing by nearly 65 per cent, rail staying level and bus traffic declining.
1926Daily Chron. 13 May 4 (caption) Private motorists made themselves popular by giving lifts to people who would otherwise have had to walk long distances. 1975Times 18 June 4/5 The Egon Ronay Guide to Transport Cafés..should also be of help to the economy-minded private motorist.
1970F. Reynolds Dramatist i. 12 Whence arises the pleasure at an Opera, a private Play, or a Speech in Parliament?
1794C. Mathews Let. 3 Aug. in A. Mathews Mem. Charles Mathews (1838) I. 100, I left England without calling on Wayte, to whom I am indebted for a few articles; among which are the dresses for the private play. 1868P. Fitzgerald Life David Garrick I. vi. 158 It was once determined to get up a private play..and the parts were cast in a moment.
1784W. Hayley (title) Plays of three acts written for a private theatre. 1807E. Weeton Let. 18 Nov. (1969) 50 She..was never outshone in elegance of movement at a Ball, out-performed at a private Theatre.
1787J. Powell (title) The narcotic & private theatricals. 1818Keats Let. 23 Jan. (1931) I. 96, I began an account of a private theatrical—Well it was of the lowest order, all greasy and oily. 1831D. E. Williams Sir T. Lawrence I. 50 Nor did he ever take part in any private theatricals. 1914G. B. Shaw Fanny's First Play 153 The end of a saloon in an old⁓fashioned country house..has been curtained off to form a stage for a private theatrical performance.
1836–9Dickens Sk. Boz, Scenes xiii, Private Theatres.
1837Dickens Pickw. xxviii. 289 A select two or three,..were being honoured with a private view of the bride and bridesmaids, up stairs. 1840― Old C. Shop xxix. 254 Miss Monflathers,..at the head of the head Boarding and Day Establishment..condescended to take a Private View with eight chosen young ladies. 1847E. Gray Let. 28 Apr. in M. Lutyens Ruskins & Grays (1972) iv. 33 John [Ruskin] is going to a private view of the Royal Academy. 1852Times 1 May 8/2 (heading) Exhibition of the Royal Academy (Private View). 1862W. Sandby Hist. Roy. Academy II. 239 It had..been the custom to regard the anniversary dinner as one of a private nature—a gathering of the members of the Royal Academy and of the friends and patrons of art. Ibid. 240 The art-critics for the newspapers, etc., were admitted to the private view of the exhibition. 1884World 3 Dec. 13/1 There were no fewer than five ‘private views’ on Saturday last. 1887Ruskin Præterita II. i. 27 The private view day of the Old Water Colour came. 1897Daily News 28 Apr. 6/6 The galleries..soon to be refilled by the critics, the private viewers, and the outside crowd. 1898Westm. Gaz. 28 Apr. 5/3 On the whole the private viewing ladies have had the excellent taste of coming in the morning in morning dress.
d. Used with reference to medical treatment and facilities for which fees are charged to the patient instead of being provided by the state or a public body; from 1946 in the United Kingdom spec. of treatment and facilities outside the National Health Service (see national a. 5), as private bed, private nursing, private patient, etc. Also ellipt.
1754W. Smellie Midwifery II. xxvi. 437, I attended a private patient. 1801Med. Jrnl. V. 7 Those to whom I have communicated the infection out of the Hospital, or among my private patients. 1843R. J. Graves Syst. Clin. Med. ix. 99 In private practice the physician is called at an early period of the disease. 1860F. Nightingale Notes on Nursing vi. 38, I have often seen the private nurse go on dusting..while the patient is eating... The above remarks apply much more to private nursing than to hospitals. Ibid. 39 Generally, the only rule of the private patient's diet is what the nurse has to give. 1914A. Bennett Price of Love xii. 256 In those days of State health insurance all doctors were too busy..to be of assistance to private patients. 1934P. Bottome Private Worlds xii. 114 They stood in a small private room off the ward, and looked down at the moaning woman on the bed. 1935D. L. Sayers Gaudy Night ix. 191 He's in a private ward, so you can get in any time. 1942M. Dickens One Pair of Feet vii. 110 Sister Adams..told me that I was to..go on day duty on the Private wards. Ibid. 115, I went on cutting bread savagely and the Private Nurse stirred milk with pursed lips. 1942[see dog's body 2]. 1943G. Greene Ministry of Fear ii. ii. 150 It's a very charming nursing-home and I'm a private patient. 1946Act 9 & 10 Geo. VI c. 81 §5 The Minister may allow any medical practitioner..on the staff of a hospital providing hospital and specialist services to make arrangements for the treatment of his private patients either at their hospital or at any other such hospital. 1946P. Bottome Lifeline ii. 33 Ours is not a state-run affair..but a private hospital. 1956P. Scott Male Child i. i. 26, I spent most of April in a private nursing home. 1960C. Watson Bump in Night i. 15 He lay in a small private ward of Chalmsbury General Hospital. 1961Ann. Reg. 1960 9 There had been a demand that ‘private patients’ who relieved the finances of the health service by paying their own doctor should get free access to N.H.S. drugs. 1967M. Sharman Face of Danger i. 7 They..walked out of the private wing of the hospital. 1967P. Willmott Consumer's Guide Brit. Social Services vi. 158 Private beds amount to little over one per cent of the total number of beds in use. Ibid., Financial help towards the cost of private treatment is provided by several provident associations. 1969B. Turner Circle of Squares iv. 27 Poor Flisch had a private room. 1971Guardian 1 July 6/5 Hospital laboratory technicians..will refuse to carry out tests on private patients. 1972P. Johnson Offshore Islanders vi. 400 Labour ministers lacked the will to impose a salaried service on the medical profession... Private practice, private beds in hospitals, private health insurance were permitted. 1976W. J. Burley Wycliffe & Schoolgirls iii. 67 She was a staff nurse..and chucked up her job to go into private nursing. 1976N. Leigh-Taylor Doctors & Law iv. 35 The Government has announced that it intends..to abolish private treatment in N.H.S. hospitals.
e. Teleph. and Telegr. (i) applied to (a) a line that is permanently for the exclusive use of the subscriber or is not connected to the public network; (b) a number that is ex-directory; (c) a number at a private address rather than business premises.
1878Telegr. Jrnl. VI. 51/1 The regulations concerning the despatch and receipt of telegrams, the tariffs for the same, and for the renting of private wires. 1885List of Subscribers (United Telephone Co.) p. vii, The Charge for Private Lines is at a fixed annual rental, payable in advance, varying with the situation and the distance apart of the points connected. 1911W. Aitken Man. Telephone xxiii. 476 Private Lines..are lines not having exchange service. 1924J. Buchan Three Hostages xvi. 235 This must be a private telephone..of which only his special friends knew the number. 1933D. L. Sayers Murder must Advertise viii. 129 He was not in the telephone-book, but his private number would doubtless be on the telephone-clerk's desk. 1940War Illustr. 16 Feb. p. ii/1 Taking the final proof of his commentary on the foreign news of the day to the ‘private wire’ room, to be telegraphed or telephoned to Manchester. 1942A. Christie Body in Library vi. 59, I had a private line put in connecting my bedroom with my office. 1969N. Freeling Tsing-Boum xiii. 95 Good morning. Police Judiciaire!.. I'm at a private number in Marseilles; will you..clear me a direct line. 1972L. Moir tr. Simenon's Maigret & Flea ii. 34 You'll know where to find me. My private number's in the book. 1974Encycl. Brit. Macropædia XVIII. 95/1 Private-line systems for data communications have come into widespread use in the past decade. 1974D. Gray Dead Give Away vii. 72 Cyril decided on a nap in his study, where he had a private line, on which he could ring Nina. 1976H. MacInnes Agent in Place xxiii. 241 Tony..dialled Bill's number—not his private line, just the ordinary one. 1976T. H. Flowers Introd. Exchange Syst. i. 11 Picture telegraphy..is possible over the telephone service lines but difficulties discourage small users and encourage large users of such services to rent private circuits not subject to switching.
(ii) spec. of an exchange: serving private lines; private branch exchange, an exchange on private premises by which private lines may be connected to the public network.
1891J. Poole Pract. Telephone Handbk. vii. 124 Fig. 102 represents a type of switch-board which was designed by the writer in 1881 for the use of private telephone exchanges. 1905Ann. Rep. Amer. Telephone & Telegr. Co. 1904 6 There is an enormous increase in the number of private branch exchanges in hotels. 1911W. Aitken Man. Telephone xxi. 416 No hotel or warehouse of any standing is now considered complete without a private branch exchange connected to the ‘Central’ by a number of circuits. 1943A. L. Albert Fund. Telephony viii. 170 A private branch exchange or PBX in a large store, hotel, manufacturing plant, or to serve a college campus. 1974Encycl. Brit. Macropædia XVIII. 94/1 Typical automatic switching systems in operation include the step-by-step system, used..for local exchanges and private branch exchanges.
(iii) Describing components in a telephone exchange which belong to a circuit whose potential indicates the condition of a particular subscriber's line and enables its condition to be ascertained without interfering with calls in progress; esp. in private wire (see quot. 1969).
1906J. Poole Pract. Telephone Handbk. (ed. 3) xxx. 486 When a current is started and stopped through the ‘private’ magnet, the end of the side-switch arm slips under the outer tooth. 1919R. Mordin Strowger Automatic Telephone Exchange i. 23 The whole arrangement of fixed contacts is called the connector bank; the upper half the private bank, and the lower the line bank. The moveable contacts are termed respectively the private wiper and the line wiper. 1927C. W. Wilman Man. Automatic Telephony vi. 55 This wire is comparable with the test wire in a manual system inasmuch as it indicates whether a particular line is free or busy... It is..known as the private line (because it prevents intrusion on a busy trunk). 1969S. F. Smith Telephony & Telegr. A vi. 153 A third wire is therefore provided on all connexions through the exchange, the potential of which indicates the condition of the circuit. This avoids intrusion on calls in progress and is called the private wire, usually abbreviated to ‘P-wire’.
5. a. That belongs to, or is the property of a particular individual; belonging to oneself, one's own.
1502W. Atkynson tr. De Imitatione iii. 221 The xxxi. chapiter, the loue of pryuate thynges & of mannys selfe letteth the perfyte goodnes of mannys soule. 1530Palsgr. 321/1 Private, belongyng to a persons owne selfe, priuat. 1560J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 127 They teache howe it is not lawful for the christians..to haue any thynge priuate, yt al things ought to be common. 1601Shakes. Jul. C. iii. ii. 253 He hath left you all his Walkes, His priuate Arbors,..On this side Tyber. 1638Junius Paint. Ancients 147 As for private Libraries, Martial teacheth us, That in them the Images of such Writers as were as yet surviving, might bee admitted. 1845R. Jebb in Encycl. Metrop. (1847) II. 703/1 The divine purpose of the institution of private property is, in general, very inadequately represented. 1899Westm. Gaz. 21 Sept. 4/1 He hoped it would not go forth from the Conference that they wanted to stamp out all private venture schools. 1904J. T. Fowler Durham Univ. 5 His private goods were all seized by his creditors.
b. private bank (see bank n.3 7 a); hence private banker, private banking; private car, (a) U.S., a privately owned and used railway carriage; (b) a motor car owned and used privately, as distinct from a commercial vehicle; private family, the family occupying a private house; private house, the dwelling-house of a private person, or of a person in his private capacity; with implied or expressed distinction from a public-house or inn, a shop or office, which are open to the public on business, and, in modern use, from a public building or official residence; private income, an income derived from private sources, as investments, property, etc.; an unearned income; private man of war: see privateer n.; private means, income derived from private sources (cf. private income above); private press, a printing and publishing house of limited resources and output, often operated for the owner's personal satisfaction rather than profit, and usually issuing small editions of books designed to meet higher standards of production than those of commercial publishers; private residence = private house; private room, a room in a club, hotel, etc., that may be hired for private use (see also sense 5 d below); private school, a school owned and carried on by a person or persons for their own profit, as opposed to a public school, founded and carried on primarily in the public interest; also, a school that is independent of a State system of education (see independent a. 5 d); often with mixture of other senses; so private schoolmaster; private service, domestic service in a private house.
1714in A. McF. Davis Tracts Currency Massachusetts Bay (1902) 115 Which does most of all import them, the Publick or the Private Bank? 1802M. Edgeworth Let. 1 Dec. (1979) 43 Private banks never issue any notes. 1978M. Birmingham Sleep in Ditch 120 My mother wanted me to be a banker..in one of the small, distinguished private banks.
1837in W. L. Mackenzie Life & Times M. Van Buren (1846) 178 The Bills of the banks of this State only shall be circulated as Money by private bankers. 1978P. Noyes Who is Simon Warwick? viii. 104 A house which only a private banker could possibly have described as a cottage.
1836in W. L. Mackenzie Life & Times M. Van Buren (1846) 176 If the fetters are knocked off by the repeal of the Restraining Law, private banking associations may be formed. 1954Econ. Hist. Rev. VII. 167 A tentative sketch of some developments in London private banking is offered.
1585T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. ii. xiii. 48 Buildings..aswel publike as priuat.
1897Kipling Capt. Cour. ix. 186 Send ‘Constance’, private car, here, and arrange for special [train]. 1926Brit. Gaz. 12 May 1/3 There were few private cars on the roads and nearly every vehicle was labelled ‘Food only’. 1938E. Ambler Cause for Alarm xiv. 232 We had to wait for a private car and a van to pass. 1979B. Peterson Peripheral Spy ii. 34 It really must be important when Col. Petrovich waited for you with his private car.
1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. iii. (1871) I. 144 By the Petition of Right, it had been declared unlawful to quarter soldiers on private families.
1542in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 410 If [they]..carry anny such wares to pryvat housses shoppis or sellers and not to the costome housse. 1548–9(Mar.) Bk. Com. Prayer, Communion, When the holy Communion is celebrate..in priuate howses. 1657Evelyn Diary 3 Aug., Dr. Wild preach'd in a private house in Fleete Streete. 1781Gibbon Decl. & F. xix. II. 131 The private houses of Antioch, and the places of public resort. 1848Dickens Dombey vii, There was another private house besides Miss Tox's in Princess's Place.
1873C. M. Yonge Pillars of House IV. xlix. 385 Between his private income and the endowment he would be able to keep up..a staff of Curates. 1910A. Bennett Clayhanger iv. ii. 470 It's a good thing she has a private income of her own. 1923J. M. Murry Pencillings 86 No one really pays much attention now to the subtle problems which tormented Henry James, simply because no one would earn any gratitude by solving them. Even the attempt to solve them calls for a private income. 1941‘G. Orwell’ in Partisan Rev. VIII. 496 Nearly all [Home Guard] commands are held by retired colonels, people with ‘private’ incomes or, at best, wealthy business men. 1952M. Laski Village iii. 65 Because she's got a private income no one ever expected her to go out and take a job. 1971G. Household Doom's Caravan ii. 53 He was a bachelor with a private income.
1862Mrs. J. B. Speid Our Last Years in India vi. 149 In the case of married military men, under the grade of field officer, I cannot see, unless they have private means..how they can escape involvement. 1976C. Bermant Coming Home ii. ii. 131, I was without connections and without private means.
1834J. Martin Bibliogr. Catal. Bks. Privately Printed p. v, The second portion of the work, consisting of an account of the publications from literary clubs, and private presses. 1900Library I. 407 Since the days when Horace Walpole started as a master-printer at Strawberry Hill quite a number of book-lovers have amused themselves with the management, and occasionally with the actual working, of a private press. 1922D. B. Updike Printing Types II. xxii. 215 The types of the Kelmscott, Doves, and other English private presses were from his [sc. E. P. Prince's] hand. 1934H. Waddell Let. in M. Blackett Mark of Maker (1973) xii. 112 The man who is secretary of the Pilgrim Trust (Tom Jones)..runs a very luxurious private press, for which he wants me to do a translation. 1955S. H. Steinberg Five Hundred Years of Printing iii. 217 It was pleasure in fine printing, or at least in printing according to personal taste, rather than commercial success that made kings and nobles set up private presses in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. 1968Times 30 Jan. 13/3 (Advt.), First editions and private press books, including the Shakespeare Head Press Homer, 1930–31. 1978Times Lit. Suppl. 15 Sept. 1024/1 Some private presses eventually extended their operations so much that their work is more properly described as commercial.
1885List of Subscribers, Classified (United Telephone Co.) (ed. 6) 8 Any Subscriber who pays {pstlg}20 a year for an Exchange connection can..have his Private Residence joined up with the system. 1974P. Lovesey Invitation to Dynamite Party iii. 34 ‘There was a second explosion..at Sir Watkin Wynn's residence.’ ‘A private residence? What have they got against Sir Watkin Wynn?’
1824Scott Redgauntlet III. vii. 197 Walking into the inn, [he] demanded from the landlord breakfast and a private room. 1847C. Brontë J. Eyre I. xi. 172 When I asked a waiter if any one had been to inquire after a Miss Eyre, I was answered in the negative; so I had no recourse but to request to be shown into a private room. 1879Trollope John Caldigate II. xviii. 251 ‘I suppose I can have a private room here, at noon tomorrow?’ asked Caldigate, turning to the woman at the bar. 1920‘Sapper’ Bull-Dog Drummond 7 Have we ever had staying in the hotel a man called le Comte de Guy?.. Has he ever fed here, or taken a private room? 1974J. Gardner Return of Moriarty 87 A private room had been booked for Moriarty and his guest,..at the Café Royal.
1857Hughes Tom Brown i. iii, A private school, where he went when he was nine years old. 1875Trollope Prime Minister (1876) I. i. 6 He had been at a good English private school. 1914C. Mackenzie Sinister St. II. iii. iii. 547, I don't think it is snobbishness... It's a throw back to primitive life in a private school. 1944Private school [see independent a. 5 d]. 1945Guide to Educ. Syst. Eng. & Wales (Min. of Educ.: Pamphlet No. 2) 59 Private school, independent school owned by a private individual or group of individuals. 1969T. Jenkins We came to Australia i. iii. 41 There are both State and private schools. 1976C. Bermant Coming Home ii. iii. 154, I was a teacher in one of those private schools, which was basically a very expensive..crammer for the sons of oil sheiks.
1857Hughes Tom Brown i. iii, Were I a private schoolmaster.
1934D. L. Sayers Nine Tailors 139 Deacon was a waiter in some club... He wanted to try private service. 1953A. Christie Pocket Full of Rye v. 36 She'd been in private service first and after that in various cafés. 1978M. & N. Ward Home in Twenties & Thirties 38/1 There was..an inexorable reduction in the number of people engaged in private service.
c. private judgement: see judgement 7 c.
1565T. Stapleton Fortr. Faith 6 He interpreteth it after his owne liking and priuat iudgement.
6. a. Of or pertaining to a person in a non-official capacity.
1613Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) 286 In a priuate habit he visited the Markets, and hanged vp the hoorders of coine. 1713Berkeley Guardian No. 69 ⁋2 The private letters of great men are the best pictures of their souls. 1797Godwin Enquirer i. vii. 59 A private pupil is too much of a man. 1830Chron. in Ann. Reg. 259/1 The eldest of three sons of the grand-duke Charles-Frederick, by his morganique, or private-marriage, with Louisa-Caroline, countess of Hochberg. 1859Kingsley Lett. (1878) II. 83 Private correspondence, private conversation, private example may do what no legislation can do. 1859Sala Tw. round Clock 108 While the brass bandsmen at once subside into private life. 1864(on a Presentation), A tribute to private worth and public usefulness.
b. private account, a bank account relating to one's personal (as opposed to business) assets; private call, a personal telephone call to or from one's place of work; private life, a person's domestic or personal (way of) life, as distinct from that relating to employment, official position, etc. (freq. with a notion of sense 3).
1924‘Sapper’ Third Round i. 34 [The cheque] is drawn on my private account. 1973A. Behrend Samarai Affair viii. 84 He compiled a list of every individual connected with the case... Thus:..Bank Manager, Hartley's private account.
1942E. Waugh Put out More Flags i. 52 There's a ridiculous woman on the line saying is this a private call? 1974‘J. Le Carré’ Tinker, Tailor xi. 84 The misuse of unlisted Circus telephones for private calls.
1526R. Whitford Martiloge f. cxxxiv, He resygned his crowne, & lyued a holy pryuate lyfe. 1843Dickens Mart. Chuz. (1844) xvi. 193 A full account of the Ball..with the Server's own particulars of the private lives of all the ladies that was there! 1886Kipling Departm. Ditties (ed. 2) 22 He heliographed his wife Some interesting details of the general's private life. 1943J. B. Priestley Daylight on Saturday xxii. 169 Her own private life, now in ruins, insisted upon claiming her attention, and she could not pretend to herself that it was less important than the private lives of all the other women in the factory. 1973A. Behrend Samarai Affair viii. 81, I was speaking of Mr. Gosling as a pilot of course... I know next to nothing of Mr. Gosling's private life.
7. a. Of, pertaining or relating to, or affecting a person, or a small intimate body or group of persons apart from the general community; individual, personal.
1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 33 Onely for theyr pryuate profyte. 1560J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 34 b, Certen priuate dyspleasures did growe betwixte hym & the Frenche kynge. 1601Shakes. Jul. C. ii. ii. 73 For your priuate satisfaction..I will let you know. 1651Hobbes Leviath. ii. xxii. 122 He, whose private interest is to be debated. 1838Thirlwall Greece II. xv. 260 In reality they had only consulted their own private ambition. 1858Ld. St. Leonards Handy-Bk. Prop. Law iv. 22 If you employ an agent to sell an estate by public auction, a sale by private contract is not within his authority. 1883Law Rep. 11 Q.B. Div. 597 That the censure had been made injuriously and from motives of private malice.
b. private bill, private act: a parliamentary bill or act affecting the interests of a particular individual or corporation only: see bill n.3 3; hence Private Bill Office. private notice question (see quot. 1964).
1678Butler Hud. iii. ii. 901 Who..Can..Lay Publick Bills aside, for Private, And make 'em one another drive out. 1818Cruise Digest (ed. 2) V. 527 An estate tail, granted by Richard III. to the Derby family..which by a private act of 4 Jac. I. was limited to the heirs male of the family in a different manner from that in which it had been limited by the letters patent. 1844May Treat. Law, etc. Parl. 302 The functions of Parliament in passing private bills, have always retained the mixed judicial and legislative character of ancient times. 1850in Jos. Irving Ann. Our Time 30 Nov. (1872) 315/1 Plans for about 104 new schemes were deposited to-day in the Private Bill Office. 1863H. Cox Instit. i. ix. 173 In order to the first reading of a private bill in the House of Commons, a petition for leave to bring it in is first presented, by being deposited at the Private Bill Office. A certain interval of time is required to elapse between the first and second readings, during which the bill remains in the custody of the Private Bill Office. 1871Hansard Commons 27 Feb. 941, I wish to ask some questions of the Prime Minister, of which circumstances prevented me from giving any other than a private Notice to him. 1913Ibid. 21 Jan. 225 Private notice question... May I ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer a question of which I have given him private notice. 1929G. F. M. Campion Introd. Procedure of House of Commons iv. 126 Private Notice Questions are of two kinds: (a) those of an urgent character, and (b) non-urgent. 1931Daily Express 13 Oct. 12/2 A private notice question can cause more flutter in the Civil Service than any other of the few instruments of torture left in the hands of back-bench members. 1964Abraham & Hawtrey Parl. Dict. (ed. 2) 168 On specially urgent matters, ‘private notice questions’ may be asked after the end of the time allotted by the standing orders to questions for oral answer. A member who wishes to avail himself of this privilege must give notice of the terms of his question to the minister and to the Speaker not later than twelve o'clock on the day on which he is to ask it. 1976S. Lloyd Mr. Speaker, Sir iii. 88 The Speaker also has power under the Standing Orders to allow what are called Private Notice Questions (I will refer to them from now on as P.N.Q.s), ones which in his opinion are of an urgent character and relate either to matters of public importance or to the arrangement of business.
c. private secretary: see secretary n.1 2; private secretaryship, the office or post of private secretary.
1773R. Jephson Let. 2 Mar. in D. Garrick Private Corr. (1831) I. 530 Our friend Tighe is much engaged in his office of Private Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant, but is getting better health and more strength every day. 1814Jane Austen Mansf. Park II. xvii. 155, I would rather find him private secretary to the first Lord than any thing else. 1869Trollope Phineas Finn II. lxv. 232 The Duke of St. Bungay was at work as a Private Secretary when he was three-and-twenty. 1880E. W. Hamilton Diary 25 Apr. (1972) I. 3 Horace Seymour and Henry Primrose are the two between whom the other private secretaryship lies. 1891W. Fraser Disraeli & his Day (ed. 2) 42 Mr Algernon Greville became, some years afterwards, Private Secretary to the Duke. 1930J. B. Priestley Angel Pavement v. 207, I can't bear those private secretary jobs. Yours is one of them, isn't it? 1954K. Amis Lucky Jim iv. 48 Our influencial friend will shortly be declaring his private secretaryship vacant. 1974R. Ingram Yoris i. 1 You'll be this chap's private secretary, so you'll get to know everything.
d. private law (see quot. 1923).
1773J. Erskine Inst. of Law of Scotl. i. 9 Public law is that which hath more immediately in view the public weal... Private is that which is chiefly intended for ascertaining the civil rights of individuals. The private law of Scotland is to be the proper subject of this treatise. 1923W. J. Byrne Dict. Eng. Law 519/2 Private or civil law deals with those relations between individuals with which the State is not directly concerned; as in the relations between husband and wife, parent and child,..contracts, torts, trusts, legacies. 1932H. F. Jolowicz Hist. Introd. Roman Law i. 5 The change from republic to empire did not make any immediate difference to private law. 1969D. Daube Roman Law iii. 152 The basic structure..is still largely dominated by the criminal trial; but the cases discussed have shifted to lesser crimes and even near to private law. 1973I. M. Sinclair Vienna Convention on Law of Treaties iv. 86 The potentially misleading nature of private law analogies.
e. private international law (see quots.)
1834J. Story Commentaries Conflict of Laws i. 9 The jurisprudence, then, arising from the conflict of the laws of different nations, in their actual application to modern commerce and intercourse, is a most interesting and important branch of public law... This branch of public law may be fitly denominated private international law, since it is chiefly seen and felt in its application to the common business of private persons. 1861R. Phillimore Commentaries Internat. Law IV. p. iii, This volume is devoted to the consideration of Jus Gentium—Private International Law, or Comity: that is, strictly speaking, the law which ought to govern the legal relations of individuals not being the subject of the State which administers the law. 1938G. C. Cheshire Private Internat. Law (ed. 2) i. 22 The expression ‘Private International Law’, coined by Story in 1834,..and used on the Continent by Foelix in 1838,..has been adopted by Westlake and Foote and most French authors. The chief criticism directed against its use is its implication that the subject forms a branch of International Law. There is, of course, no affinity between Private and Public International Law. The latter comprises those universally accepted customs which are recognized by States in their public relations with each other; the former consists of rules which the Courts of each territorial jurisdiction follow when a dispute containing some foreign element arises between private persons. 1962J. F. McMahon in Brit. Year Bk. Internat. Law 1961 326 The European Economic Community Treaty..devotes two of its articles to what it calls ‘approximation of laws’... This gradual approximation of law, however, will have to take place both in the field of legislation and in the jurisprudence of the courts. The Court of the European Communities is not itself concerned with private international law and that question has only been invoked on one occasion before the Court.
f. private treaty (see quot. 1973).
1858Estates Gaz. 16 Aug. 16/1 (Advt.), To be sold, by private treaty, a substantial and well-built house. 1922V. Sackville-West Heir i. 19 Are we to try for auction or private treaty? Personally I think the house at any rate will go by private treaty. 1957D. H. D. Alexander in Auctioneers & Estate Agents (Chartered Auctioneers' & Estate Agents' Inst.) 99 Almost all general urban practices depend..upon the commissions earned on the sale of houses and properties whether such sales are by private treaty or auction. 1973Westland & Rodway Place of your Own i. 11/2 In Scotland..houses are more often sold ‘by private treaty’. This way, the owner places a reserve, or ‘upset’ price on the property and invites those interested to make offers, in writing, by a specified date. On that date, the offers are examined, and the property will usually go to the highest bidder. An offer made this way is binding by law, unless you withdraw it before it is formally accepted... Some properties in England and Wales are offered for sale on these terms. 1979Irish Times 28 Sept. 23/1 One of the very few [houses] that well justifies its private treaty price tag of over three-quarters of a million pounds.
g. private war: a war fought by a restricted number of participants from personal or private motives. Also transf.
1866C. M. Yonge Dove in Eagle's Nest I. p. vi, An offended nobleman, having sent a Fehdebrief to his adversary, was thenceforward at liberty to revenge himself by a private war. 1894Kipling Jungle Bk. 85 A wolf who obeyed the orders of this boy who had private wars with man-eating tigers was not a common animal. 1948G. V. Galwey Lift & Drop vii. 196 Operating a war of his own against the gang and the Law. 1973J. R. L. Anderson Death on Rocks x. 175 If there's a senior police officer on the spot..it will help... You and Simon may feel that you have a private war against Potterton, but this is more than a private war. 1974‘G. Black’ Golden Cockatrice xi. 194 A killing that was one incident in the continuing private war the Russians and the Chinese have been waging against each other.
h. private company: a company whose membership and transfer of shares are limited by law.
1908Act 8 Edw. VII c. 69 §121 For the purposes of this Act the expression ‘private company’ means a company which by its articles—(a) Restricts the right to transfer its shares; and (b) Limits the number of its members..to fifty; and (c) Prohibits any invitation to the public to subscribe for any shares or debentures of the company. 1928Act 18 & 19 Geo. V c. 45 §55 If any company, being a private company, alters its articles in such manner that they no longer include the provisions which..are required to be included in the articles of a company in order to constitute it a private company..the company shall, as on the date of the alteration, cease to be a private company. 1928Britain's Industr. Future (Liberal Industr. Inquiry) ii. vii. 84 The most important existing legal distinction is between Public Companies..and Private Companies, limited to not more than 50 shareholders. 1948Act 11 & 12 Geo. VI c. 38 §31 If at any time the number of members of a company is reduced, in the case of a private company, below two,..and it carries on business for more than six months while the number is so reduced, every person who is a member of the company during the time that it so carries on business..shall be severally liable for the payment of the whole debts of the company contracted during that time. 1961T. E Utley Occasion for Ombudsman ii. 18 The recent case of the Esso Petroleum Bill, when a private company sought powers of compulsory purchase.
i. private world: a private ‘realm’ within which one moves or lives; = world n. 10.
1921A. Huxley Crome Yellow xiii. 128 He determined to retire absolutely from it [sc. the great world] and to create..at Crome a private world of his own. 1958Listener 19 June 1024/1 Never has the private world of the thwarted male been so shamelessly exposed to view. 1976S. Hynes Auden Generation ix. 296 The private world of love is threatened by public violence.
j. private sector: that part of an economy, industry, etc., which is free from direct state control. Usu. with the.
1952T. Surányi-Unger Compar. Econ. Syst. iii. 59 Coordination of freedom and planning obviously influences the formation of private and public sectors within the whole economic structure... The compromising countries still reveal larger private than public sectors. Their private sectors are relatively much larger than those of the countries under Eastern planning. 1965J. L. Hanson Dict. Econ. 327/2 Private sector, that part of the economy which is left to private enterprise. 1971Guardian 22 July 11/3 Sooner or later there will develop a new set of ideas about the private sector in education. 1980Illustr. London News Mar. 19/1 The extension of the steel strike into the private sector.
k. private language: a language which can be understood by the speaker only, esp. in Logic involving the query whether such a concept can have meaning. Also loosely, a language shared by a privileged few.
1953G. E. M. Anscombe tr. Wittgenstein's Philos. Investigations i. 94 Sounds which no one else understands but which I ‘appear to understand’ might be called a ‘private language’. 1955L. P. Hartley Perfect Woman xiii. 121 Why should you understand my private language? 1964Amer. Philos. Q. I. 20/1 A private language is one of which it is not merely the case that it is not understood by anyone other than the speaker, but more that it is logically impossible that it should be understood by anyone other than the speaker. 1979D. Francis Whip Hand xiv. 173 The reins felt alive, carrying messages... A private language, shared, understood.
l. private-label: used attrib. to denote a product manufactured by a particular company for sale through its own retail markets; cf. own-label s.v. own a. 4 a.
1961Economist 11 Mar. 984/1 There are the usual ‘private-label’ teas, flour, butter, and dried cereals, fruit and pulses; besides these, private label jams and biscuits are quite common and several companies market their own canned peas, soups, canned fruit and canned vegetables; there is even a private-label pine essence. 1971Guardian 9 June 13/2 Supermarkets' private label brands were selling at around 1s. 10d., while the major manufacturers were sometimes cutting their prices by as much as 1s.
†8. Peculiar to a particular person or body of persons, a people, etc.; particular, special. Obs.
1526Tindale 2 Pet. i. 20 So that ye fyrst knowe this, that no prophesy in the scripture hath eny private interpretacion [Wyclif ech prophecie..is not maad bi propre interpretacioun; Coverd. no prophecie..is done of eny priuate interpretacion; Geneva is of any priuate motion; Rhem. is made by priuate interpretation; 1611 is of any priuate interpretation.] 1555Eden Decades 296 [They] haue a priuate language differyng from the Moscouites. 1559in Strype Ann. Ref. (1709) I. App. viii. 20 The realm of Englande hath been alwaies governyd by private lawes and customes. 1593Bilson Govt. Christ's Ch. vii. 86 Neither was this priuate to Timothie, but..it was vsuall in the Apostles times. 1651C. Cartwright Cert. Relig. i. 120 How can any man assume to himselfe a freedome from Erring by the assistance of a private Spirit?
9. By one's self, alone; without the presence of any one else.
1592Shakes. Rom. & Jul. i. i. 144 Away from light steales home my heauy Sonne, And priuate in his Chamber pennes himselfe. 1613― Hen. VIII, ii. ii. 15, I left him priuate, Full of sad thoughts and troubles. 1752Foote Taste i. Wks. 1799 I. 8 Let us be private.
10.
†a. Intimate, confidential (with a person). Obs.
1574Hellowes Gueuara's Fam. Epist. (1584) 175 The Court is not but for men that be private and in favor, that can gather the fruit thereof. 1641W. Mountagu in Buccleuch MSS. (Hist. MSS. Comm.) I. 286 The King is often very private with Digby and Bristow. 1648Gage West Ind. 205 A great Politician, and very familiar, private, and secret with the Archbishop of Canterbury.
b. Of a conversation, communication, etc.: Intended only for or confined to the person or persons directly concerned; confidential.
1560J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 113 b, The byshoppes hauynge priuate talke with the Quene. 1650W. Brough Sacr. Princ. (1659) 334 Private Confession is retained in the reformed churches. 1734Bp. Sterne Let. to Swift 25 June, I shall put off my defence till I have the pleasure of half an hour's private conversation with you. 1857Trollope Barchester T. xlvii, He received a letter, in an official cover, marked ‘private’. 1859Geo. Eliot Let. 10 Apr. (1954) III. 43 The letter is marked ‘private’. a1908Mod. May I have some private conversation with you? 1971A. Price Alamut Ambush x. 125 The letter?.. He said it'd be a bit much to open it because it was marked ‘private’.
†11. = privy a. 4; having secret, unacknowledged, or confidential cognizance. Const. to, with. Obs.
1599B. Jonson Cynthia's Rev. i. ii, Had Eccho beene but private with thy faults. 1621Quarles Argalus & P. (1678) 69 Not making any private to her flight, She quits the house, and steals away by night. 1742Cervantes' Novels, Lady C. Bentivoglio 92 That Maid-servant of mine, who was private [ed. 1640 privie] to my Actions.
12. Of a place: Retired, unfrequented, secluded.
1494Fabyan Chron. vi. clix. 149 Y⊇ sayd bysshoppes were depryued of theyr dignyties, and put into pryuate houses of relygyon. 1662Ray Three Itin. ii. 162 We went to Shap,..where we saw the ruins of the abbey, very pleasantly situate in a private valley. 1817J. Evans Excurs. Windsor, etc. 192, I scarce go out of my own house, and then only to two or three very private places, where I see nobody that really knows anything.
13. Of persons, etc.: Retiring; retired; secluded.
1585Parsons Chr. Exerc. ii. i. 191 S. Antony..a little before had professed a priuate and a solitarie life in Egypt. 1594Drayton Idea 142 O God from You, that I could private be. 1630R. Johnson's Kingd. & Commw. 58 Their women are very private, fearefull to offend. 1759Franklin Ess. Wks. 1840 III. 530 Gentlemen, it is true, but so very private, that in the herd of gentry they are hardly to be found. 1850L. Hunt Autobiog. xvii. 267 The privatest of all public men found himself complimented.
†14. Of a person: Secretive, reticent. Obs.
a1627Fletcher Wife for Month i. i, You know I am private as your secret wishes, Ready to fling my soul upon your service. 1660Marvell Corr. Wks. (Grosart) II. 34 We hope you will be private in these things, communicated to you out of faithfulness to your interest.
†15. private seal = privy seal. Obs.
1531in Sel. Cases Crt. Requests (1898) 33 To graunte vnto your seid Orator your most dredd wrytte of pryuatte seale to be dyrected vnto the seid abbot.
16. quasi-adv. Privately, secretly.
1590Greene Orl. Fur. Wks. (Grosart) XIII. 195 Ne're had my Lord falne into these extreames, Which we will parley priuate to ourselves. 1659–60Pepys Diary 6 Mar., Every body now drink the King's health..whereas before, it was very private that a man dare do it. 1704J. Trapp Abra-Mulé i. i. 117, I came private, and unattended. 1876‘Mark Twain’ Tom Sawyer xxxv. 272 I'll smoke private and cuss private. 1883― Life on Mississippi iii. 54 They all drunk more than usual—not together, but each man sidled off and took it private, by himself. 1905[see case n.2 6 c].
17. Comb., as private-humoured, private-spirited.
1602W. Fulbecke Pandectes 58 Secreat meetinges of male-contents, phantasticall, and priuate humored persons. 1655J. Sergeant Schism Disarm'd 19 The Doctors private-spirited opinion. 1895Spectator 21 Sept. 368 Unpatriotic and..private-spirited reason.
B. n.
I. Of a person.
†1.
a. A private person; one who does not hold any public office or position. Obs.
1483Cath. Angl. 291/2 A Priuate, priuatus. 1599Shakes. Hen. V, iv. i. 255 And what haue Kings, that Priuates haue not too, Saue Ceremonie, saue generall Ceremonie? 1671Milton Samson 1211, I was no private but a person rais'd With..command from Heav'n To free my Countrey.
b. the private: private people, opposed to the public. Obs.
1716Pope Let. to Jervas 29 Nov., You have already done enough for the private; do something for the public. a1734North Lives (1826) III. 274 Who hath neither inclination nor temptation to court the public, or flatter the private.
†2. An intimate, a favourite. Obs.
1602Shakes. Ham. ii. ii. 238 In the middle of her fauour..her priuates, we. [With play on sense 7.]
3. A private soldier: see 2 b above.
1781Justamond Priv. Life Lewis XV, III. 375 This party..consisted of a Colonel, four Captains,..and 360 private. 1810Wellington in Gurw. Desp. (1838) VI. 45 One officer, four serjeants and fifty privates of the 23rd light dragoons. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. iii. I. 294 Even the privates were designated as gentlemen of the guard. 1868Regul. & Ord. Army §845 The Wives and Children of Non-Commissioned Officers and privates are entitled to medical attendance.
II. Of things or affairs.
†4.
a. A private or personal matter, business, or interest; pl. private affairs. Obs.
1549Ridley Let. to Somerset in Liber Cantab. (1855) 245 [Letters] to signifye..the privits of my hart and consciance. 1592Sir H. Unton Corr. (Roxb.) 289, I will no longer hold your Lordship with this my privatt. 1606Warner Alb. Eng. xv. xcvi. 383 Phocas for his Priuats Rome the Supreme Sea promoted. 1611B. Jonson Catiline iii. ii, Nor must I be unmindful of my private. 1642J. M[arsh] Argt. conc. Militia 7 When it concerns any mans private.
b. Private opinion, one's own mind or thought. Obs.
1586A. Day Eng. Secretary i. (1625) 145 Yet may you vouchsafe in your owne priuate to reckon mee with the greatest in willingnesse.
†5. A private or confidential communication.
1595Shakes. John iv. iii. 16 The Count Meloone,..Whose priuate with me of the Dolphines loue, Is much more generall, then these lines import.
†6.
a. Retirement, privacy. Obs.
1601Shakes. Twel. N. iii. iv. 100 Go off, I discard you: let me enioy my priuate. a1639Webster App. & Virg. ii. i, I see there's nothing in such private done, But you must inquire after. a1653G. Daniel Idyll i. 58 Perhaps I have To my owne Private, had reflects, as grave On my Condition.
b. in († on) private: privately, not publicly; in private company; in private life.
1581Mulcaster Positions xxxix. (1887) 187 Doth not that deserue to be liked on in priuate, which is thoroughly tryed being showed forth in common? 1582Stanyhurst æneis i. (Arb.) 28 Hee walcks on priuat with noane but faythful Achates. 1615G. Sandys Trav. 171 Confesse they do, but not greatly in priuate. 1615R. Brathwait Strappado (1878) 108 Laugh and spare not So't be in priuate, burst thy sides with laughter. 1832H. Martineau Life in Wilds vi, Let each family eat in private. 1859G. Meredith R. Feverel i, Her opinion, founded on observation of him in public and private, was, that..his ordinary course of life would be resumed.
7. pl. The privy or private parts. (See 2.)
1940C. McCullers Heart is Lonely Hunter ii. iv. 155 He's so fat he hasn't seen his privates for twenty years. 1955P. Bowles tr. Beckett's Molloy 77 She..thrust her stick between my legs and began to titillate my privates. 1979‘E. McBain’ Calypso v. 49 The dancer..wiped the black man's glasses over what the Vice Squad would have called her ‘privates’.
†8. = privy n. 3. Obs.
1600Hamilton Fac. Traictise in Cath. Tractates (S.T.S.) 235 Young wemen..casting thair new borne babes in filthie priuets, vthers in colpots, and in vther secret places.
9. Short for private school.
1925C. Connolly Let. 6 Apr. in Romantic Friendship (1975) 64, I met quite a nice small boy who is at my private. 1932N. Mitford Christmas Pudding v. 81 At my private..we had a most handy little cemetery for the fathers, just behind the cricket pav. 1940― Pigeon Pie iv. 80 It is exactly like one's private here. 1965Listener 22 July 128/1 What private were you at?
▪ II. † ˈprivate, ppl. a. Obs.
[ad. L. prīvāt-us deprived, pa. pple. of prīvāre: see next.]
Deprived, bereft, dispossessed. Commonly used as pa. pple. of prive v. Obs. = privated.
1492Ryman Poems xx. 2 in Archiv Stud. Neu. Spr. LXXXIX. 188 Of her crowne priuat she is. 1509Barclay Shyp of Folys (1874) I. 1 Thou shewest by euydence Thy selfe of Rethoryke pryuate and barayne. a1541Wyatt Absent Lover v, All worldly felicity now am I private, And left in desart most solitarily. 1552Abp. Hamilton Catech. (1884) 16 Quha ar private the communioun of sanctis. 1573J. Tyrie Refut. in Cath. Tractates (S.T.S.) 22 It is easier the sone to be priuat and destitute of licht, nor the kirk to be ony wais obscurit.
▪ III. private, v.
[Originally and chiefly in pa. pple. privated (prob. priˈvated), f. L. prīvāt-us, pa. pple. of prīvāre to deprive (prive v.) + -ed1: cf. prec. The finite parts of the vb. are later and rare. In II (? ˈprivate) app. f. private a.; in III (ˈpraɪvət) f. private n. 3.]
I.
†1. trans. To deprive or dispossess (a person) of, to cut off from something. Obs.
c1425Found. St. Bartholomew's (E.E.T.S.) 45 Both the shippe of her marchauntyse And they of ther lyif are priuatid. 1491Caxton Vitas Patr. (W. de W. 1495) i. xlvii. 89 We shall be pryuated fro her gracyous syghte corporall. a1533Ld. Berners Gold. Bk. M. Aurel. (1546) Ii ij b, They wolde be pryuated fro the company of so noble barons. a1548Hall Chron., Rich. III 41 b, Promisynge faythefully..that they would..be priuated of their lyues and worldely felicitee, rather then to suffre Kynge Richarde..to rule and reigne ouer them.
II.
†2. To keep private; to seclude. Obs.
1490Caxton Eneydos xxiii. 85 The soules pryuated & lowe, that be descended in-to helle. 1581Mulcaster Positions xxxix. (1887) 187 Content to be pent vp within private dores, though it mislike the cloistering, in priuating the person. 1612W. Parkes Curtaine-Dr. (1876) 20 Their vnlawfull and lustfull recreations must be priuated and couered with the Curtaine of Secresie.
III. 3. To furnish (an army) with privates; cf. to officer, to man. nonce-use.
1884Sat. Rev. 15 Nov. 626/1 Between a league of this sort and an army privated by persons like the Three Witnesses, chaplained by Mr. Rogers, and officered by Mr. Wren, there ought to be a very pretty battle, which also may in its time figure in the Chamberlainiad.
Hence † privated ppl. a., deprived, robbed.
1656S. H. Gold. Law 58 They hang not,..but reserve their Delinquents for useful service, private or publike, yet to give the privated satisfaction, which done, they return to themselves, and are their own men again. |