Etymologically
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privatus

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Forms

prīvātus (feminine prīvāta, neuter prīvātum); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is the perfect participle of prīvō “to deprive; to set apart”, used as an adjective.[2][1][3] Prīvō comes from prīvus “individual, separate”, which de Vaan derives from Proto-Italic *prei-wo-, Proto-Indo-European *prei-uo-, a form of the stem *prei- “before” seen in prior.[4] Old spellings are preivatus and preiuatod.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus asks whether a slave serves a private or a public master.[2] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[5]

Semantic evolution

Of property it meant restricted to particular persons, private, as opposed to public, as Caesar's private buildings and fields.[2][6] It meant not holding public office, and of a person in his private capacity, as Cicero's privato consilio, “on his own initiative”.[2][7] It also meant peculiar or special, as Pliny's Palmyra with its own fortune between two empires.[2]

As a noun a privatus was a private person, as Plautus' man “who is now a private person”.[2] In medieval Latin it meant non-festal, and privatum or privata a privy.[8] English private was borrowed in the late 14th century, and privy came through Old French in the early 13th century.[9]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of private service.[2][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of private persons.[2][5]
  • c. 50 BC – Caesar uses it of private buildings.[6][5]
  • early 13th century – English privy is recorded.[9]
  • late 14th century – English private is borrowed.[9]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Private, one's own (not public).[2][1]
  2. Not holding office, unofficial.[2][1]
  3. Of a private person.[2]
  4. Peculiar, special.[2][1]
  5. (Medieval Latin) Non-festal.[8]

Noun

  1. A private person, a citizen without office.[2][1]
  2. (Medieval Latin, neuter or feminine) A privy.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  7. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  8. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  9. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com