PRIVY
privy
(adjective) (followed by ‘to’) informed about something secret or not generally known; “privy to the details of the conspiracy”
privy, secluded, secret
(adjective) hidden from general view or use; “a privy place to rest and think”; “a secluded romantic spot”; “a secret garden”
outhouse, privy, earth-closet, jakes
(noun) a small outbuilding with a bench having holes through which a user can defecate
toilet, lavatory, lav, can, john, privy, bathroom
(noun) a room or building equipped with one or more toilets
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Adjective
privy (comparative more privy, superlative most privy)
(now chiefly historical) Private, exclusive; not public; one's own. [from early 13th c.]
(now rare, archaic) Secret, hidden, concealed.
With knowledge of; party to; let in on. [from late 14th c.]
Noun
privy (plural privies)
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.
(legal) A partaker; one having an interest in an action, contract, etc. to which he is not himself a party.
Synonyms
• (latrine, outhouse, or lavatory): See bathroom
• (fixture): See toilet
Source: Wiktionary
Priv"y, a. Etym: [F. privé, fr. L. privatus. See Private.]
1. Of or pertaining to some person exclusively; assigned to private
uses; not public; private; as, the privy purse. " Privee knights and
squires." Chaucer.
2. Secret; clandestine. " A privee thief." Chaucer.
3. Appropriated to retirement; private; not open to the public. "
Privy chambers." Ezek. xxi. 14.
4. Admitted to knowledge of a secret transaction; secretly cognizant;
privately knowing.
His wife also being privy to it. Acts v. 2.
Myself am one made privy to the plot. Shak.
Privy chamber, a private apartment in a royal residence. [Eng.] --
Privy council (Eng. Law), the principal council of the sovereign,
composed of the cabinet ministers and other persons chosen by the
king or queen. Burrill.
– Privy councilor, a member of the privy council.
– Privy purse, moneys set apart for the personal use of the
monarch; also, the title of the person having charge of these moneys.
[Eng.] Macaulay.
– Privy seal or signed, the seal which the king uses in grants,
etc., which are to pass the great seal, or which the uses in matters
of subordinate consequence which do not require the great seal; also,
elliptically, the principal secretary of state, or person intrusted
with the privy seal. [Eng.] -- Privy verdict, a verdict given privily
to the judge out of court; -- now disused. Burrill.
Priv"y, n.; pl. Privies (.
1. (Law)
Definition: A partaker; a person having an interest in any action or thing;
one who has an interest in an estate created by another; a person
having an interest derived from a contract or conveyance to which he
is not himself a party. The term, in its proper sense, is
distinguished from party. Burrill. Wharton.
2. A necessary house or place; a backhouse.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition