How to spell privacy

hear itpri·va·cy/'praɪvəsi/nounRules and real life

What it means: The state of being free from intrusion.

In a sentence: Everyone deserves privacy when they have their own thoughts.

The part people get wrong

Watch for an unstressed vowel that is hard to hear. Often misspelled as privicy or privacey.

Same family: privately, privatize, privatization, confidential, secrecy. If you can spell one, the shared part carries to the others.

Where it comes from: “Privacy” comes from the Latin root ‘privatus,’ meaning ‘set apart’ or ‘personal.’ It entered English through Old French in the 1400s, and its spelling has stayed surprisingly stable compared with many other English words.

Patterns it uses: The unstressed vowel (schwa)

Try spelling it

You will hear the word and a sentence. Type it and press Enter. Then four more words from the same level, so you know where you stand.

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