the.com/privy
the secret you're trusted with and the toilet you're not — same word, wildly different vibes.
means Privy means privately sharing in some secret knowledge ('privy to the plan'), or, as a noun, an old-fashioned outdoor toilet.
from From Old French 'prive' meaning private or intimate, which comes from Latin 'privatus' — set apart, belonging to oneself, the same root that gives us 'private.' The toilet sense grew naturally: the privy was simply the 'private' room, the place you went to be alone. So both meanings — the confidential and the lavatorial — trace back to the same idea of withdrawing from public view.
- old meaning
- medieval word for an outdoor toilet
- legal use
- "privy to" means sharing a private interest
- royal council
- the Privy Council still advises the British monarch
- root word
- from Latin privatus, meaning private
- two faces
- same word for secrets and sewage
british privy council — advisory body to the uk monarch, established 1066, includes cabinet ministers and senior judges
privy purse — private income of british monarch, historically £600,000+ annually, separate from state funds
privy seal — official seal used by uk government for documents, third in rank after great seal and sign manual