from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Private \Pri"vate\ (pr[imac]"v[asl]t), n.
1. A secret message; a personal unofficial communication.
[Obs.] --Shak.
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2. Personal interest; particular business.[Obs.]
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Nor must I be unmindful of my private. --B. Jonson.
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3. Privacy; retirement. [Archaic] "Go off; I discard you; let
me enjoy my private." --Shak.
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4. One not invested with a public office. [Archaic]
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What have kings, that privates have not too? --Shak.
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5. (Mil.) A common soldier; a soldier below the grade of a
noncommissioned officer. --Macaulay.
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6. pl. The private parts; the genitals.
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{In private}, secretly; not openly or publicly.
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