privacy

Etymology

From private + -cy.

noun

1. (uncountable) The state of being secluded from the presence, sight, or knowledge of others.
   I need my privacy, so please stay out of my room.
   It is realised that the old Pullman standard sleeper, with its convertible "sections", each containing upper and lower berths, and with no greater privacy at night than the curtains drawn along both sides of a middle aisle, has had its day. 1944 November and December, “"Duplex Roomette" Sleeping Cars”, in Railway Magazine, page 324
2. (uncountable) Freedom from unwanted or undue disturbance of one's private life.
   It takes a village to rob one of a sense of privacy.
3. (uncountable) Freedom from damaging publicity, public scrutiny, surveillance, and disclosure of personal information, usually by a government or a private organization.
   Privacy is assumed by many to be among common-law rights.
4. (countable, obsolete) A place of seclusion.
5. (obsolete, law) A relationship between parties seen as being a result of their mutual interest or participation in a given transaction, contract etc.
6. (obsolete) Secrecy.
7. (countable, obsolete) A private matter.