From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Privy \Priv"y\, noun; pl. {Privies}.
1. (Law) A partaker; a person having an interest in any action or thing; one who has an interest in an estate created by another; a person having an interest derived from a contract or conveyance to which he is not himself a party. The term, in its proper sense, is distinguished from party. --Burrill. --Wharton.
2. A necessary house or place for performing excretory functions in private; an outhouse; a backhouse. [1913 Webster +PJC]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Privy \Priv"y\, adjective [F. priv['e], fr. L. privatus. See {Private}.]
1. Of or pertaining to some person exclusively; assigned to private uses; not public; private; as, the privy purse. '' Privee knights and squires.'' --Chaucer.
2. Secret; clandestine. '' A privee thief.'' --Chaucer.
3. Appropriated to retirement; private; not open to the public. '' Privy chambers.'' --Ezek. xxi. 14.
4. Admitted to knowledge of a secret transaction; secretly cognizant; privately knowing.
His wife also being privy to it. --Acts v. 2.
Myself am one made privy to the plot. --Shak.
{Privy chamber}, a private apartment in a royal residence. [Eng.]
{Privy council} (Eng. Law), the principal council of the sovereign, composed of the cabinet ministers and other persons chosen by the king or queen. --Burrill.
{Privy councilor}, a member of the privy council.
{Privy purse}, moneys set apart for the personal use of the monarch; also, the title of the person having charge of these moneys. [Eng.] --Macaulay.
{Privy seal} or {Privy signet}, the seal which the king uses in grants, etc., which are to pass the great seal, or which he uses in matters of subordinate consequence which do not require the great seal; also, elliptically, the principal secretary of state, or person intrusted with the privy seal. [Eng.]
{Privy verdict}, a verdict given privily to the judge out of court; -- now disused. --Burrill.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
adjective
1: hidden from general view or use; "a privy place to rest and think"; "a secluded romantic spot"; "a secret garden" [syn: {secluded}, {secret}]
2: (followed by 'to') informed about something secret or not generally known; "privy to the details of the conspiracy" [syn: {privy(p)}]
noun
1: a room equipped with toilet facilities [syn: {toilet}, {lavatory}, {lav}, {can}, {john}, {bathroom}]
2: a small outbuilding with a bench having holes through which a user can defecate [syn: {outhouse}, {earth-closet}, {jakes}] [also: {priviest}, {privier}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
100 Moby Thesaurus words for "privy": WC, alive to, anonymous, appreciative of, apprised of, awake to, aware of, back-door, backhouse, backstairs, basement, bathroom, behind the curtain, behind the scenes, bog, buried, can, clandestine, closet, cognizant of, comfort station, concealed, conscious of, convenience, covert, crapper, earth closet, feline, furtive, head, hep to, hidden, hidlings, hole-and-corner, hugger-mugger, in the know, in the secret, incognito, informed of, inmost, innermost, interior, intimate, inward, isolated, jakes, john, johnny, johnny house, latrine, lavatory, let into, loo, mindful of, necessary, no stranger to, obscured, office, on to, outhouse, personal, powder room, private, privileged, privy to, quiet, rest room, retired, secluded, secret, seized of, sensible of, sensible to, sequestered, shifty, shrouded, skulking, slinking, slinky, sly, sneaking, sneaky, stealthy, streetwise, surreptitious, toilet, toilet room, undeceived, under-the-counter, under-the-table, undercover, underground, underhand, underhanded, unobtrusive, urinal, washroom, water closet, wise to, withdrawn
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