Emily Dickinson Lexicon

PRI'VATE, a. [L. privatus, from privo, to bereave, properly to strip or separate; privus, singular, several, peculiar to one's self, that is, separate; It. privare, Sp. privar, Fr. priver, to deprive. Privo is probably from the root of bereave, Sax. bereafian or gereafian, from reafian, to strip, to spoil, L. rapio, diripio, eripio; privo for perivo or berivo; W. rhaib, a snatching; rheibiaw, to snatch. See Rip, Reap and Strip.]

1. Properly, separate; unconnected with others; hence, peculiar to one's self; belonging to or concerning an individual only; as, a man's private opinion, business or concerns; private property; the king's private purse; a man's private expenses. Charge the money to my private account, in the company's books.
2. Peculiar to a number in a joint concern, to a company or body politic; as, the private interest of a family, of a company or of a state; opposed to public, or to the general interest of nations.
3. Sequestered from company or observation; secret; secluded; as, a private cell; a private room or apartment; private prayer.
4. Not publicly known; not open; as, a private negotiation.
5. Not invested with public office or employment; as, a private man or citizen; private life. – Shak. A private person may arrest a felon. – Blackstone.
6. Individual; personal; in contradistinction from public or national; as, private interest. Private way, in law, is a way or passage in which a man has an interest and right, though the ground may belong to another person. In common language, a private way may be a secret way, one not known or public. A private act or statute, is one which operates on an individual or company only; opposed to a general law, which operates on the whole community. A private nuisance or wrong, is one which affects an individual. – Blackstone. In private, secretly; not openly or publicly. – Scripture.