WOTD: Privity

Phonetic Spelling: PRIV-i-tee
Part(s) of Speech: noun

Meaning(s):

  1. Participation in the knowledge of something private or secret, especially as implying concurrence or consent.
  2. Private or secret knowledge.
  3. Law. The relation between privies.
  4. Obsolete. Privacy.

Example:
Kazbitch — at least I imagine so — thought that Azamat had robbed him of his horse, with his father’s privity and consent.
— Mikhail Y. Lermontov, A Hero of Our Own Times
But Judith had not meddled with the arrangement, and every necessary disposition was made without her privity or advice.
— James Fenimore Cooper, The Leatherstocking Tales

Origin: Privity stems from the Old French words prive meaning “private, close friend, private place.”