From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishprivypriv‧y1 /ˈprɪvi/ adjective 1 → be privy to something2 old useSECRET secret and private —privily adverb
Examples from the Corpus
privy• It is a soiled and puckered hem, the golden treasury's privy purse.• His access to patronage, too, was gained through privy Seal connections.• I was privy to all their discussions on Hardy, as both had known him during the First World War.• Earl, a classmate of North's from the Naval Academy, was privy to quite a lot, including the diversion.• And if he had made that boast, would it have remained privy to the colleagues?• On the front lines, the infantrymen were not privy to the intelligence part of the missions that we went on.• For the most part, citizens were neither involved in nor privy to this process.privyprivy2 noun (plural privies) [countable] DHTBBa toilet, especially one outside a house in a small separate buildingExamples from the Corpus
privy• In the boarding house he had lived in there was a privy in the backyard.• Chamber 46 is a bathroom with two baths, and chambers 47 and 48 are privies.• I was replacing a Framus flat-top, built like a brick privy.• Each campsite had an outdoor privy, rustic but clean.• By now the rain had stopped, though there was no sign of the pirate privy.• The privy fell forward, landing door-down.• Criss-crossed glimpses of the rooftops of tin privies.Origin privy2 (1100-1200) Old French privé, from Latin privatus; → PRIVATE1 