privacy
Etymology

From private + -cy.

Pronunciation
  • (British) enPR: prĭ'və-sē, IPA: /ˈpɹɪv.ə.si/, /ˈpɹaɪ.və.si/
  • (America) enPR: prī'və-sē, IPA: /ˈpɹaɪ.və.si/
Noun

privacy

  1. (uncountable) The state of being secluded from the presence, sight, or knowledge of others.
    I need my privacy, so please stay out of my room.
    • 1910, Emerson Hough, chapter II, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC ↗:
      Carried somehow, somewhither, for some reason, on these surging floods, were these travelers, […]. Even such a boat as the Mount Vernon offered a total deck space so cramped as to leave secrecy or privacy well out of the question, even had the motley and democratic assemblage of passengers been disposed to accord either.
  2. (uncountable) Freedom from unwanted or undue disturbance of one's private life.
    It takes a village to rob one of a sense of privacy.
  3. (uncountable) Freedom from damaging publicity, public scrutiny, surveillance, and disclosure of personal information, usually by a government or a private organization.
    Privacy is assumed by many to be among common-law rights.
  4. (countable, obsolete) A place of seclusion.
  5. (obsolete, legal) A relationship between parties seen as being a result of their mutual interest or participation in a given transaction, contract etc.
    Synonyms: privity
  6. (obsolete) Secrecy.
  7. (countable, obsolete) A private matter.
    Synonyms: secret
Related terms Translations Translations Translations


This text is extracted from the Wiktionary and it is available under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license | Terms and conditions | Privacy policy 0.002
Offline English dictionary