WOTD: Privity
Phonetic Spelling: PRIV-i-tee
Part(s) of Speech: noun
Meaning(s):
- Participation in the knowledge of something private or secret, especially as implying concurrence or consent.
- Private or secret knowledge.
- Law. The relation between privies.
- 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.”