Spelling.School · How to spell

How to spell private

Private is spelled P-R-I-V-A-T-E. An A after the V, as in privacy, then -TE: pri-vate.

hear itpri·vate/'praɪvɪt/adjectiveRules and real life

What it means: Concerning one person exclusively.

In a sentence: The secret garden is a private place where only I can go.

Same family: privacy, privately, privatize, privileged, personal. If you can spell one, the shared part carries to the others.

Where it comes from: “Private” comes from the Latin word “privatus,” which meant ‘set apart’ or ‘away from public life.’ Over time, it came to describe things that belong to one person and are not meant to be shared with everyone.

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