privy

«privy» in Mova's school dictionary: An outdoor toilet, a small hut over a hole in the ground — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 2 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

noun (a privy, privies); adjective (privy to, formal)

meaning for a pupil

1) (old) An outdoor toilet, a small hut over a hole in the ground. tree →

2) (formal) «Privy to» means allowed to know a secret: «I wasn't privy to their plans.» tree →

3) (UK, formal) In titles: Privy Council, a group that advises the king or queen. tree →

4) Privy chambers are the private rooms of a king or queen. tree →

sense in the lessons

In history lessons and old stories a privy was the toilet at the bottom of the garden. In news, «privy to» means sharing secret knowledge. Phrases: privy to, Privy Council.

examples

• In the old days the privy was outside the house. tree →
• The farm had a wooden privy. tree →
• Only the captain was privy to the secret map. tree →
• I wasn't privy to their plan. tree →
• The Privy Council met at the palace. tree →
• Nobody wanted to walk to the privy in the dark. tree →
• Saouy, who witnessed the agitation of the people from the windows of the king's privy chambers, called to the executioner to strike at once. tree →

note

Plural: privies. Old-fashioned word; today: toilet, loo (UK), bathroom or restroom (US). «Privy to» is formal.

In the corpora

• "The privy" is an old word for an outdoor toilet.
• He that is crushed or maimed in his privy parts shall not enter into the assembly of the LORD.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «privy» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.