Private

a.	1.	Belonging to, or concerning, an individual person, company, or interest; peculiar to one's self; unconnected with others; personal; one's own; not public; not general; separate; as, a man's private opinion; private property; a private purse; private expenses or interests; a private secretary.
	2.	Sequestered from company or observation; appropriated to an individual; secret; secluded; lonely; solitary; as, a private room or apartment; private prayer. Reason . . . then retires Into her private cell when nature rests. - Milton.
	3.	Not invested with, or engaged in, public office or employment; as, a private citizen; private life. A private person may arrest a felon. - Blackstone.
	4.	Not publicly known; not open; secret; as, a private negotiation; a private understanding.
	5.	Having secret or private knowledge; privy. Private act a statute exclusively for the settlement of private and personal interests, of which courts do not take judicial notice; - opposed to a general law, which operates on the whole community. In the United States Congress, similar private acts are referred to as private law and a general law as a public law. Private nuisance See Nuisance. Private soldier See Private, n., 5. Private way a right of private passage over another man's ground; also, a road on private land, contrasted with public road, which is on a public right of way. - Kent.
n.	1.	A secret message; a personal unofficial communication.
	2.	Personal interest; particular business. Nor must I be unmindful of my private. - B. Jonson.
	3.	Privacy; retirement.
	4.	One not invested with a public office. What have kings, that privates have not too? - Shak.
	5.	(Mil.) A common soldier; a soldier below the grade of a noncommissioned officer.
	6.	The private parts; the genitals. In private secretly; not openly or publicly.

Noun	1.	private - an enlisted man of the lowest rank; "our prisoner was just a private and knew nothing of value" Synonyms: buck private, common soldier
Adj.	1.	private - confined to particular persons or groups or providing privacy; "a private place"; "private discussions"; "private lessons"; "a private club"; "a private secretary"; "private property"; "the former President is now a private citizen"; "public figures struggle to maintain a private life" Antonyms: public - not private; open to or concerning the people as a whole; "the public good"; "public libraries"; "public funds"; "public parks"; "a public scandal"; "public gardens"; "performers and members of royal families are public figures"
	2.	private - concerning things deeply private and personal; "private correspondence"; "private family matters"
	3.	private - concerning one person exclusively; "we all have individual cars"; "each room has a private bath" Synonyms: individual
	4.	private - not expressed; "secret (or private) thoughts" Synonyms: secret

LAW, PRIVATE. An act of the legislature which relates to some private matters, which do not concern the public at large.

PRIVATE. Not general, as a private act of the legislature; not in office; as, a private person, as well as an officer, may arrest a felon; individual, as your private interest; not public, as a private way, a private nuisance.

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