private

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
private/ˈprʌɪvət/

▶adjective

• 1 for or belonging to one particular person or group only.

  ■ (of thoughts, feelings, etc.) not to be shared or revealed.

  ■ (of a person) not choosing to share their thoughts and feelings.

  ■ (of a place) secluded.

  ■ alone and undisturbed by others.

• 2 (of a person) having no official or public position.

  ■ not connected with one's work or official position.

• 3 (of a service or industry) provided or owned by an individual or commercial company rather than the state.

  ■ relating to a system of education or medical treatment conducted outside the state system and charging fees.

• 4 relating to or denoting a transaction between individuals.

▶noun

• 1 the lowest rank in the army, below lance corporal or private first class.

• 2 (privates) informal short for private parts.

– phrases
in private with no one else present.

– derivatives
privately adverb.

– origin ME: from L. privatus ‘withdrawn from public life’, a use of the past part. of privare ‘bereave, deprive’, from privus ‘single, individual’.