Pri·vate 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. [Obs.]
 Private act or Private statute, 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 ∨ wrong. 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.