Private — Defs

01 a. Belonging to, or concerning, an individual person, company, or interest; peculiar to one's self; unconnected with others; personal; one's o…

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.
2.
Sequestered from company or observation; appropriated to an individual; secret; secluded; lonely; solitary; as, a private room or apartment; private prayer.
“Reason . . . then retires Into her private cell when nature rests.” — Milton.
3.
Not invested with, or engaged in, public office or employment; as, a private citizen; private life.
“A private person may arrest a felon.” — Blackstone.
4.
Not publicly known; not open; secret; as, a private negotiation; a private understanding.
5.
Having secret or private knowledge; privy.[Obs.]

Phrases & compounds

Private act [or] 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.

Private nuisance [or] wrong — See Nuisance.

Private soldier — See Private, n., 5.

Private way — a right of private passage over another man's ground.

02 n. A secret message; a personal unofficial communication.

1.
A secret message; a personal unofficial communication.[Obs.]
2.
Personal interest; particular business.[Obs.]
“Nor must I be unmindful of my private.” — B. Jonson.
3.
Privacy; retirement.[Archaic]
4.
One not invested with a public office.[Archaic]
“What have kings, that privates have not too?” — Shak.
5.
A common soldier; a soldier below the grade of a noncommissioned officer.(Mil.)
6.
The private parts; the genitals.

Phrases & compounds

In private — secretly; not openly or publicly.