Etymograph

English

privity

Privity comes from Old French priveté ‘private matter’, and goes back to Latin privātus.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEprivātus1
  2. Old Frenchc. 842–1400privé2‘private’
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400priveté2‘private matter’
  4. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400priveté2
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1357privity2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Old French privé
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English privity
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1357, John Mandeville: “But yet there is a place that men clepe…”.

Earlier history not traced here. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEprivātusWiktionary, Old French privé
  2. Old Frenchc. 842–1400privéWiktionary, English privity‘private’
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400privetéWiktionary, English privity‘private matter’
  4. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400privetéWiktionary, English privity
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1357privityWiktionary, English privity. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1357, John Mandeville: “But yet there is a place that men clepe…”

Linked words

through Latin privātus

private, privatization, 1 more

through Old French privé ‘private’

privy

Today it means

noun A divine mystery; something known only to God, or revealed only in holy scriptures.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “privity”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Old French privé. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Latin privātus / privity

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