Priv"i*ty (?), n.; pl. Privities (-t&icr;z). [From Privy, a.: cf. F. privaut'e 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.

© Webster 1913.