1. (a.) Belonging to, or concerning, an individual person, company, or interest; peculiar to one's self; unconnected with others; personal; one's own; not public; not general; separate; as, a man's private opinion; private property; a private purse; private expenses or interests; a private secretary.

2. (a.) Sequestered from company or observation; appropriated to an individual; secret; secluded; lonely; solitary; as, a private room or apartment; private prayer.

3. (a.) Not invested with, or engaged in, public office or employment; as, a private citizen; private life.

4. (a.) Not publicly known; not open; secret; as, a private negotiation; a private understanding.

5. (a.) Having secret or private knowledge; privy.

6. (n.) A secret message; a personal unofficial communication.

7. (n.) Personal interest; particular business.

8. (n.) Privacy; retirement.

9. (n.) One not invested with a public office.

10. (n.) A common soldier; a soldier below the grade of a noncommissioned officer.

11. (n.) The private parts; the genitals.

Tommy Tommy Atkins absolute anonymous antisocial behind closed doors buck private certain clandestine closet common soldier concealed concrete confidential confidentially covert covertly deep-seated defined definite detailed determinate different discreet distinct distinguished enlisted man esoteric especial exceptional exclusive express extraordinary fixed furtively genitalia genitals grunt hermitical hidden hush-hush hushed idiosyncratic immanent implanted implicit in camera in private in secret inaccessible inalienable incognito individual indwelling infantryman infixed ingrained inherent inmost inner innermost inside interior internal intimate intrinsic inward inwrought irreducible isolated minute noncommissioned officer not for publication noteworthy off the record on the sly own particular peculiar personal personally precise private first class privately privileged privy reclusive reserved resident respective restricted restrictive reticent retired retiring secluded seclusive secret secretively secretly sequestered several sex organs singular sneakily sneaking sneakingly solipsistic solitary special specific sub rosa subjective surreptitious surreptitiously top secret unalienable unchallengeable uncommunicative undisclosed unofficial unquestionable unsociable unsocial withdrawn