privato

Forms

privato (feminine privata, masculine plural privati, feminine plural private, superlative privatissimo)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin prīvātus (“private, personal; set apart”), the past participle of prīvō (“to deprive; to free”), from prīvus (“one's own, single”).^{[2][3][4][5][1]} Nocentini explains the Latin word as “separated from others, isolated”, and Devoto as “exempted”.^[3][6] As a noun meaning “a private person”, the Latin word rendered Ancient Greek ἰδιώτης (idiṓtēs).^[7]

The word is shared with French privé and Spanish privado, and with Occitan privat.^[3][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is the Ritmo laurenziano, at the end of the 12th century, in the sense “belonging to the person himself or to the single person; not public”.^[2] GRADIT dates the word before 1292.^[4]

Semantic evolution

Guittone d'Arezzo uses the noun for a private citizen, and in the 14th century the adjective also meant “secret, hidden” and “intimate, familiar”; the feminine privata was once a secret stairway.^[7][9] Brunetto Latini writes of the quarrels of private persone, people without public office.^[10]

In modern Italian the word is above all the opposite of pubblico: private schools, firms and broadcasters, and private law.^[11][5][12] The noun il privato has come to mean one's private life and also the private sector.^[9][5] Derivatives include privatista (1829), privatizzare (1963) and privatizzazione (1965).^[3]

Timeline

• Late 12th century – The Ritmo laurenziano has privato.^[2]
• 13th century – Guittone d'Arezzo uses the noun for a private citizen.^[7]
• Before 1313 – Dante uses privato for a latrine.^[4]
• 1829 – Privatista is recorded.^[3]
• 1963 – Privatizzare is recorded.^[3]
• 1965 – Privatizzazione is recorded.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Not public; belonging to or run by individuals: Hanno parcheggiato in una strada privata.^{[4][11][5][1]}
2. Not open to the public, reserved to a few: una festa privata.^[4][5][9]
3. Personal, intimate: Non parla mai della sua vita privata.^[4][11][9]
4. Confidential: un colloquio privato.^[4][13]
5. Of a person, acting as an individual and not in a public office: come privato cittadino.^[4][11][5]
6. Of a professional, working outside the state system or for a single person: un insegnante privato.^[4][11][12]
7. (obsolete) Secret, hidden; special.^[4][9]

Noun

1. A private citizen or individual: La casa è in vendita da privato.^[9][5][1]
2. Private life; privacy: in privato.^[9][13][1]
3. The private sector of the economy.^[9]

Word family

• privatamente
• privatista
• privatistico
• privatizzare
• privatizzazione
• privatezza

Related words

• privare
• privo
• privativo
• privativa
• Latin prīvātus

Usage notes

An obsolete noun privato meant a latrine or sewer;^[4][7][8] GRADIT derives it from the adjective, and DEI compares Medieval Latin privatum (Bologna, 1250) and Spanish and Portuguese privada.^[4][7][8] Dante writes of filth “che da li uman privadi parea mosso” (“that seemed to have flowed from human privies”).^[4][14] The expression in privato means “in private”.^[9][13]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b c d e f g Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b c d e f g Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
6. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier, p. 346
7. ^ a b c d e Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3085
8. ^ a b c Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
10. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 14, 401
11. ^ a b c d e Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
12. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
13. ^ a b c Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
14. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET