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 ]

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 ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Privateered p. pr. & vb. n. Privateering. ] To cruise in a privateer. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ From Private. ] 1. An armed private vessel which bears the commission of the sovereign power to cruise against the enemy. See Letters of marque, under Marque. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The commander of a privateer. [ 1913 Webster ]

Kidd soon threw off the character of a privateer and became a pirate. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Cruising in a privateer. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Privateersmen An officer or seaman of a privateer. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. [ 1913 Webster ]

1. In a private manner; not openly; without the presence of others. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. In a manner affecting an individual; personally; not officially; as, he is not privately benefited. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ 1913 Webster ]

1. Seclusion from company or society; retirement; privacy; secrecy. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The state of one not invested with public office. [ 1913 Webster ]