privacy

English

Etymology

From private +‎ -cy.

Pronunciation

• (UK) enPR: prĭ'və-sē, IPA^(key): /ˈpɹɪv.ə.si/, /ˈpɹaɪv.ə.si/

  • Audio (RP)

    (file)

  • Audio (RP)

    (file)

• (US) enPR: prī'və-sē, IPA^(key): /ˈpɹaɪ.və.si/

Noun

privacy (countable and uncountable, plural privacies)

1. (uncountable) The state of being secluded from the presence, sight, or knowledge of others.

   I need my privacy, so please stay out of my room.

   • 1910, Emerson Hough, chapter II, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, OCLC 639762314:

     Carried somehow, somewhither, for some reason, on these surging floods, were these travelers, […]. Even such a boat as the Mount Vernon offered a total deck space so cramped as to leave secrecy or privacy well out of the question, even had the motley and democratic assemblage of passengers been disposed to accord either.

2. (uncountable) Freedom from unwanted or undue disturbance of one's private life.

   It takes a village to rob one of a sense of privacy.

3. (uncountable) Freedom from damaging publicity, public scrutiny, surveillance, and disclosure of personal information, usually by a government or a private organization.

   Privacy is assumed by many to be among common-law rights.

4. (countable, obsolete) A place of seclusion.
5. (obsolete, law) A relationship between parties seen as being a result of their mutual interest or participation in a given transaction, contract etc.

   Synonym: privity

6. (obsolete) Secrecy.
7. (countable, obsolete) A private matter.

   Synonym: secret

Related terms

• antiprivacy
• private

Translations

state of being private

• Arabic: سِرِّيَّة‎ f (sirriyya), خَلْوَة‎ (ar) f (ḵalwa)
• Armenian: գաղտնիություն (hy) (gałtniutʿyun)
• Bulgarian: уединение (bg) n (uedinenie)
• Catalan: privacitat f, privadesa f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 隱私 (zh), 隐私 (zh) (yǐnsī)

• Czech: soukromí (cs) n
• Dutch: afzondering (nl) f, privacy (nl) f
• Esperanto: privateco
• Finnish: yksityisyys (fi)
• French: intimité (fr) f, vie privée (fr) f, confidentialité (fr)
• Galician: intimidade (gl) f, privacidade f
• Georgian: კონფიდენციალობა (ḳonpidencialoba), ინტიმურობა (inṭimuroba), განმარტოება (ganmarṭoeba), მარტოობა (marṭooba), განცალკევება (gancalḳeveba), სიმარტოვე (simarṭove), საიდუმლოება (saidumloeba) (of information), პრივატულობა (ṗrivaṭuloba)
• German: Zurückgezogenheit (de) f, Privatsphäre (de) f, Privatheit (de) f
• Greek: μυστικότητα (el) f (mystikótita), ιδιωτικότητα (el) f (idiotikótita)
• Hebrew: פרטיות‎ (he) f (pratiyut), פרטיות‎ (he) f (pratiyut)
• Hindi: एकांत (hi) (ekānt)
• Irish: príobháideachas m
• Italian: intimità (it) f, privacy (it) f, privatezza (it) f

• Japanese: プライバシー (ja) (puraibashī), プライヴァシー (puraivashī)
• Khmer: បុគ្គលិកភាព (bokkea’lɨk pʰiep)
• Korean: 사생활 (ko) (sasaenghwal)
• Malayalam: സ്വകാര്യത (svakāryata)
• Mongolian: хувийн нууцлал (khuviin nuutslal)
• Nepali: गोपनियता (ne) (gopaniyatā)
• Plautdietsch: Veborjenheit f
• Polish: prywatność (pl) f
• Portuguese: intimidade (pt) f, privacidade (pt) f
• Romanian: intimitate (ro) f, confidențialitate f
• Russian: уедине́ние (ru) n (ujedinénije) (seclusion), прива́тность (ru) f (privátnostʹ), пра́йвеси (ru) n (prájvɛsi), пра́йвеси (ru) n (prájvesi), неприкоснове́нность ча́стной жи́зни n (neprikosnovénnostʹ částnoj žízni) (legal term), секре́тность (ru) f (sekrétnostʹ), конфиденциа́льность (ru) f (konfidɛnciálʹnostʹ)
• Sanskrit: रहस् (sa) n (rahas)
• Spanish: intimidad (es) f, privacidad (es) f
• Swedish: avskildhet (sv) c, privatliv (sv)
• Thai: ความเป็นส่วนตัว (khwām pĕn s̄̀wntạw)
• Ukrainian: самота́ f (samotá), самоти́на́ f du (samotýná)
• Vietnamese: sự riêng tư
• Welsh: preifatrwydd m

See also

• mind one's own business

References

• privacy at OneLook Dictionary Search
• privacy in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

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Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from English privacy.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpraːi̯.vəˌsi/, /ˈprɑi̯.vəˌsi/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: pri‧va‧cy

Noun

privacy f (uncountable)

1. privacy

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Italian

Etymology

Borrowed from English privacy.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpraj.va.si/, (careful style) /ˈpri.va.si/

Noun

privacy f (invariable)

1. privacy (especially online)