Priv"i*ty (?), n.; pl.
Privities (-t&ibreve;z). [From Privy,
a.: cf. F. privauté extreme
familiarity.]
1. Privacy; secrecy; confidence.
Chaucer.
I will unto you, in privity, discover . . . my
purpose.
Spenser.
2. Private knowledge; joint knowledge with
another of a private concern; cognizance implying consent or
concurrence.
All the doors were laid open for his departure, not
without the privity of the Prince of Orange.
Swift.
3. A private matter or business; a
secret. Chaucer.
4. pl. The genitals; the
privates.
5. (Law) A connection, or bond of
union, between parties, as to some particular transaction; mutual or
successive relationship to the same rights of property.
