privilege 
privileges peclally possessed by members of legislative 
homes. See the quotation. 
Breachet of privilege may be summarized as disobe- 
dience to any orders or rules of the House, indignities of- 
fered to its character or proceedings, assaults, insults, or 
libels upon members, or interference with officers of the 
House in discharge of their duty, or tampering with wit- 
nesses. Sir T. Krttrine May, Encyc. Brit., XVIII. 311. 
Conservator of the apostolic privileges. Seeconttna- 
tor. Exclusive privilege. See exclusive. Mixed priv- 
ilege, a privilege granted to classes of persons. Personal 
privilege, a privilege primarily and directly granted to 
some person, regarded as an individual. Question of 
privilege, in parliamentary law, a question arising upon 
the privileges or rights of an assembly or of a member of 
an assembly. It takes precedence of all questions except a 
motion to adjourn. Real privilege, a privilege granted 
to some thing (building, place, or beneflce), although in- 
directly extended to the persons by whom the tiling Is 
owned or enjoyed. -Writ Of privilege, a writ to deliver 
a privileged person from custody when arrested in a civil 
suit. =Syn. 2. Privilege, Prerogative, Exemption, Im- 
munity, Franchise. Privilege is a right to do or a right 
to be excused or spared from doing or bearing, this right 
being possessed by one or more, but not by all. Privi- 
lege is also more loosely used for any special advantage : 
as, the privilege of intimacy with people of noble charac- 
ter. Prerogative is a right of precedence, an exclusive 
privilege, an official right, a right indefeasible on account 
of one's character or position : as, the Stuart kings were 
continually asserting the royal prerogative, but Parliament 
resisted any Infringement upon its privileyet. (See defi- 
nition of prerogative.) An exemption is an exception or 
excuse from what would otherwise be required: as, ex- 
emption from military service, or from submitting to exam- 
ination ; figuratively, exemption from care, from disease. 
Immunity is the same as exemption, except that exemp- 
tion more often expresses the act of authority, and immu- 
nity expresses more of the idea of safety : as, immunity 
from harm. A franchise is a sort of freedom ; the word 
has very exact senses, covering certain privilege!, exemp- 
tions, or immunities. 
privilege (priv'i-lej), r. t.; pret. and pp. 7>rin- 
legcil, ppr.pririlegint/. [Formerly also priri- 
ledge; < OF. privelegir, F. pririlti/ier = Sp. Pg. 
privilegiar = It. pririlrgiare, < ML. pririlff/iare, 
privilege, approve, < L. pririlcyium, privilege: 
see privilege, w.] 1. To grant some privilege 
to; bestow some particular right or exemption 
on; invest with a peculiar right or immunity; 
exempt from censure or danger: as, to pririlri/e 
diplomatic representatives from arrest; the 
privileged classes. 
Your Dignity does not Priviledqe you to do me an In- 
Jury. Selden, Table-Talk, p. 45. 
Ther. Peace, fool ! I have not done. 
Achil. He is a privileged man. Proceed, Thersltes. 
Shak., T. and t"., ii. 3. 61. 
This freedom from the oppressive superiority of a priv- 
ileged order was peculiar to F.ngl:uul. 
Ilallam, Middle Ages, viiL 3. 
Gentflhonime In France was the name of a well-defined 
and privileged class. K. A. Freeman, Amer. Lects., p. 307. 
2. To exempt in any way ; free : with from. 
He took this place for sanctuary', 
And it shall privilege him from your hands. 
Shak., C. of E., v. 1. 95. 
It was not a Jewish ephod, It is not a Romish cowl, that 
can privilege an evil-doer from punishment. 
Rev. T. Adams, Works, II. 289. 
3. To authorize ; license. 
Wilt thoti be glass wherein it shall discern 
Authority for sin, warrant for blame, 
To privilege dishonour in thy name? 
Shale., Lucrece, I. 621. 
A poet's or a painter's licence is a poor security to priv- 
ilege debt or defamation. Gf. Harvey, Four Letters. 
Privileged altar, communication, debt. See the 
nouns. Privileged deeds, in Scots law, holograph deeds, 
which are exempted from the statute that requires other 
deeds to be signed before witnesses. Privileged sum- 
monses, in Scot* law, a class of summonses in which, from 
the nature of the cause of action, the ordinary induct 
are shortened. Privileged villeinage. See mOeinage. 
privily (priv'i-li), am. [< ME. privily, prerely, 
preealy, etc. ; < privy + -/tf 2 .] In a privy man- 
ner; privately; secretly. 
Sir, a kynge ought not to go so prevely, but to haue his 
meyne a-boute hym. Merlin (E. E. T. 8.), L 51. 
There shall be false teachers among you, who primly 
shall bring in damnable heresies. 2 Pet. 11. 1. 
privity (priv'i-ti), . ; pi. privities (-tiz). [< 
ME. privitee, pricetee, privete, pryrete, etc., < 
OF. privete, < ML. *privita(t-)s, privacy, < L. 
nrivus, one's own, private: see private.] If. 
Privacy; secrecy; confidence. 
Ther shallow fynde 
A thyng that I have hyd in priritee. 
Chaucer, Summoner's Tale, 1. 443. 
I will to you, in privity, discover the drift of my pur- 
pose. Spenser, State of Ireland. 
2f. Private life; privacy; seclusion. 
Then Plrrus with pyne put hym to serche 
Of Polexena the pert, in priuete holdyn, 
That was cause of the cumbranse of his kynd fadur. 
Destruction of Troy (E. E. T. S.), I. 12078. 
For all his dayrs he drownes in privitie, 
Yet has full large to live and spend at llbertie. 
Spenser, F. Q., III. ix. 3. 
4739 
3f. Intimate relation; intimacy. 
With the praise of amie* and chevalrie 
The prize of beautle still hath joyned beene ; 
And that for reasons special! privitie, 
For either doth on other much relle. 
Spetuer, F. Q., IV. T. 1. 
4f. That which is to be kept privy or private ; 
a secret ; a private matter. 
Blamed hymself for he 
Hadcle told to me so greet a privitee. 
Chaucer, Prol. to Wife of Bath's Tale, I. M2. 
To signify unto yourgrace, besides our common letters 
also with these my private letters the privities of my heart 
and conscience In that matter. 
Up. Ridley, In Bradford's Works(ParkerSoc., 1868), II. 370. 
5. Private knowledge; joint knowledge with 
another of a private concern, which is often 
supposed to imply consent or concurrence. 
I had heard of his Intending to steal a marriage without 
\\u-liriritii of us his Intimate friends and acquaintance. 
Steele, Spectator, No. 133. 
This marriage . . . brought upon Garcilasso, In conse- 
quence of his privity, the displeasure of the Emperor. 
Tielmor, Span. Lit, I. 448. 
6t. pi. The private parts. Alp. Abbot. 7. In 
law: (a) That relation between different inter- 
ests of several persons in the same lands which 
arises under feudal tenures. All the various estates, 
loss than a fee simple absolute, were regarded as so many 
parts of entire title, and the persons among whom such par- 
tial interests were distributed were said to stand In priv- 
ity or in privity of estate to each other. If the interests 
belonging to one of such persons devolved either by 
act of law. as in the case of his death intestate, or by act 
of the parties, as in the case of a conveyance, upon a third 
person, that person was thereby brought into privity with 
him and the others. In the former case he was said to be 
privy in late, in the latter case privy in deed, each of these 
being only species of pririts in estate. Vpou the same 
principle, whenever several lesser estates were carved out 
of a larger, as by grant of a qualified interest or life estate 
leaving a remainder or reversion In the grantor, the par- 
ties were termed privies. (I,) More loosely, since 
the abrogation of tenure, any joint, separate, 
or successive interest affecting the same realty 
is deemed to constitute a privity between the 
parties in interest. Thus, If B inherits land from A, 
there is prlvltyof estate between them, and if C inherits the 
same land from II, the privity extends to him, so that B 
and c may be twth bound in respect to the land by whatever 
bound A. (c) Iii the law of obligations, the mu- 
tual relationships between contractor and con- 
tractee, and either of them and a third person 
claiming under the contract, which result from 
the existence of the contract. Thus, If A gives his 
note to B, and B separately gives his note to (;, there is 
privity of contract between A and B, and also lx:tween B 
and C, but none between A and C. But if A gives his note 
to B, and B indorses it over to C, there is privity of con- 
tract among all. (,/) I,, the law of contracts and 
torts, the legal relation consequent on joint or 
common knowledge and concurrence, particu- 
larly in respect to a breach of contract, a tort, or 
a wrong Privity of tenure, the relation subsisting 
between a lord and his immediate tenant. 
privy (priv'i), a. and . [< ME. privy, privet; 
price, privet, pryre, prery, prete, < OF. price, 
Y.prive = Sp.Pg. It. privado, private, < Jj. pri- 
rntus, apart from the public, private: see pri- 
ratc, a., of which priry is a doublet.] I. a. 1. 
Private; pertaining to some person exclusively; 
assigned to private uses; not public: as, the 
priry purse. 
The other half 
Comes to the privy coffer of the state. 
5*o*., M. of V., Iv. 1. 354. 
2. Secret ; not seen openly ; not made known 
in public. 
A connsall sail I tel to the, 
The whllk I will you hald vriuf. 
Holy Rood(E. E. T. S-X p. 92. 
This drudge, or diviner, . . . told me what privy marks 
I had about me. Shot., C. of E., iii. 2. 146. 
The Seas breaking their sandle barres, and breaking vp 
by secret vnderminings the pritiie pores and passages in 
the earth. Purchas, 1'llgrimage, p. 40. 
Place and occasion are two privy thieves. 
B. Jonson, Cynthia's Revels, v. S. 
3. Private; appropriated to retirement; se- 
questered; retired. 
If your Lordship shall commannd to chastise or to whip 
any page or seruant, prouide that It be done in a place 
priuie and secrete. 
Querara, Letters (tr. by Hellowes, 1577X p. 161. 
It Is the sword of the great men that are slain, which 
entereth Into their privy chambers. Ezek. xxl. 14. 
4. Privately knowing; admitted to the parti- 
cipation with another in knowledge of a secret 
transaction : generally with to. 
And couth remeve from the seld French kynge the prrry 
est man of bets Councell yf he wold. 
Patton Letter*, I. 104. 
His wife also being priry to It. Acts T. Z. 
Myself am one made privy to the plot. 
SAO*., T. G. of V., ill. 1. 12. 
prize 
Our mortal eye* 
Pierce not the secret* of your heart : the god* 
Are only priry to them. Ford, Broken Heart, iii. 1. 
This sudden change was much observed by some, who 
were privy tliat Mr. Wllwni had protest**! as much before. 
Winthmp, Utot. New England, I. 282. 
Bf. Intimate; familiar; on confidential terras ; 
well known. 
And two knyghtes that ben moste privy with hym, that 
noon tie knowcth so moehe of his counselle. 
Merlin (K. E. T. S.\ L 76. 
Gentlemen ushers of the privy chamber, four func- 
tionaries In the lord chamberlain's department of the 
royal household In Cireat Britain, who attend various cer- 
emonies of court. Privy chamber, In Great Britain, a 
private apartment In a royal residence. Privy coat, a 
light coat or defense of mail concealed under the ordinary 
dres. Privy council Sceeounrtf. Privy councilor, 
a member of the privy council. Abbreviated P. C 
Privy purse, seal, etc. 8e<- the nouns. Privy verdict, 
a verdict given to the Judge out of court. = 8yn. L Indi- 
vidual, special, personal, peculiar, particular. 4. Cogni- 
zant (of), acquainted (with). 
II. .; pl.7>ririr(-iz). 1. In laic, one stand- 
ing in a relation of privity to another. See 
privity, 7. (a) A partaker: a person having a Joint or 
common knowledge, right, or responsibility. More spe- 
cifically^) One bound by an obligation irrespective of 
his being a party to it ; one bound or entitled in respect to 
an estate Irrespective of his having been a party to the 
transaction by which It was created. The term privy is 
properly used In distinction from party; but privies to a 
contract is used to mean the parties themselves. Stimson. 
2t. A secret friend. 3. A necessary. 
privy-fly (priv'i-fli), . A fly of the family 
Anthomyidm, Homalomyta xcalaris, whose larva 
is usually found in human excrement. It is 
probably indigenous in Europe, though also 
found in North America. See cut under Homu- 
lomyia. 
prix (pre), w. [F.: see price.] A premium; 
a^ prize ; specifically, the stakes or cup in a 
French horse-race or other sporting event: 
used by English writers in such phrases as 
grand prir and /iris <lr Home (in French nation- 
al competitions in the fine arts). 
prizable(pri'za-l>l), a. [<;);>- + -able.'] Val- 
uable; worthy' of being prized. Also spelled 
pri:eable. 
The courage of the tongue 
Is truly, like the courage of the hand. 
Discreetly used, tlitrizeable jMtssession. 
Sir II. Taylor, St. Clement's Eve, 1. 1. 
prizaget, See prixayc. 
prizallt, . See prinal. 
prize'^ (priz), M. and a. [Formerly also prise ; 
< ME. prim; < OF. prise, a taking, capture, a 
seizure, a thing seized, a prize, booty, also hold, 
purchase (= It. prexa), < F. prixe, < pris, pp. of 
prendre, take, capture, < L. premiere, prchcn- 
(lere, take, seize : see prelieitd. Cf. pri:e$, pris- 
on, etc., apprise, comprise, enterprise, ptirprise, 
reprisal, tturprixr, etc. I'rizrl and pri:e3 have 
been in some senses more or less confused.] 
1. n. 1. A taking or capture, as of the property 
of an enemy in war. 
His leg, through his late luckelesse prise. 
Was crack t In twaine. Spenter, F. Q., VI. vili. 25. 
2. In hunting, the note of the horn blown at the 
capture or death of the game. 
Syr Eglamour hase done to dede 
A grete herte, and tane the hede ; 
The prune he blewe folle schille. 
MS. Lincoln A. L 17, f. 140. llfatliircll.) 
Alm'd well, the Chieftain's lance has flown : 
Straggling In blood the savage lies ; 
His roar is sunk In hollow groan 
Sound, merry huntsman ! sound the prye.' 
Scott, Cadyow Castle. 
3. That which is taken from an enemy in war; 
any species of goods or property seized by force 
as spoil or plunder; that wnich'is taken in com- 
bat, particularly a ship with the property taken 
in it. The law as to prizes Is regulated by the general 
law of nations. Prizes taken In war are condemned (that 
Is, sentence Is passed that the thing captured Is lawful 
prize) by the proper judicature In the courts of the captors, 
called prize-court*. 
And when the salines were thus discounted and fledde, 
the kynge Vrlen and his peple gedered vp that was lefte 
therof . . . grete richesw, . . . the richest prite that euer 
was seln. Merlin (E. E. T. S.), u. 240. 
I have made, mother, 
A fortunate voyage, and brought home rich prize 
In a few hours. Fletcher, Spanish Curate, I. S. 
The distinction between a prize and booty consists In 
this, that the former Is taken at sea and the latter on land. 
Bourier. 
4. In early Kmj. lair, a seizure or the asserted 
ri^'ht of seizure of money or chattels by way of 
exaction or reqirisit ion for the use of the crown ; 
more spn-itictilly, a toll of that nature exact- 
ed on merchandise in a commercial town. 
5. That which is obtained or offered as the re- 
