*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of privy

From Middle English pryvy, prive, from Old French privé (“private”), from Latin prīvātus (“deprived”), perfect passive participle of prīvō (“to bereave, deprive; to free, release”). Doublet of private.

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In this entry · 1 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Unnumbered source etymology

Original entry ↗
adj

Private, exclusive; not public; one's own. · Secret, hidden, concealed. · With knowledge of; party to; let in on.

noun

An outdoor facility for urination and defecation, whether open (latrine) or enclosed (outhouse). · A lavatory: a room with a toilet. · A toilet: a fixture used for urination and defecation. · A partaker; one having an interest in an action, contract, etc. to which he is not himself a party.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

From Middle English pryvy, prive, from Old French privé (“private”), from Latin prīvātus (“deprived”), perfect passive participle of prīvō (“to bereave, deprive; to free, release”). Doublet of private.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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        "3": "pryvy"
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      "expansion": "Middle English pryvy"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "fro",
        "3": "privé",
        "4": "",
        "5": "private"
      },
      "expansion": "Old French privé (“private”)"
    },
    {
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        "2": "la",
        "3": "prīvātus",
        "4": "",
        "5": "deprived"
      },
      "expansion": "Latin prīvātus (“deprived”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "doublet",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "private"
      },
      "expansion": "Doublet of private"
    }
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    ],
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      "privé#Old_French"
    ],
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      "prīvātus",
      "privatus#Latin"
    ],
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      "privo#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "private",
      "private#English"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "adj",
      "glosses": [
        "Private, exclusive; not public; one's own.",
        "Secret, hidden, concealed.",
        "With knowledge of; party to; let in on."
      ],
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        "archaic"
      ],
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      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "An outdoor facility for urination and defecation, whether open (latrine) or enclosed (outhouse).",
        "A lavatory: a room with a toilet.",
        "A toilet: a fixture used for urination and defecation.",
        "A partaker; one having an interest in an action, contract, etc. to which he is not himself a party."
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    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 0,
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  }
}

Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for privy →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-cHJpdnk