different between covert vs privy

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Old French covert, past participle of covrir (“to cover”) (corresponding to Latin coopertus); cognate to cover.

Pronunciation

• Adjective:
  • (UK) IPA^(key): /?k?v?t/, /?k??v??t/
  • (US) IPA^(key): /?ko?v??t/, /ko??v??t/, /?k?v??t/
• Noun:
  • (UK) IPA^(key): /?k?v?t/, /?k??v??t/, /?k?v?/
  • (US) IPA^(key): /?k?v??t/, /?ko?v??t/, /?k?v??/

Adjective

covert (comparative more covert, superlative most covert)

1. (now rare) Hidden, covered over; overgrown, sheltered.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, III.5:

     Within that wood there was a covert glade, / Foreby a narrow foord, to them well knowne […]

   • 1625, Francis Bacon, Of Gardens

     to plant a covert alley

2. (figuratively) Secret, surreptitious, concealed.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:covert
• feme covert

Antonyms

• overt

Derived terms

• covert stuttering

Related terms

• cover

Translations

Noun

covert (plural coverts)

1. A covering.
2. A disguise.
3. A hiding place.
4. Area of thick undergrowth where animals hide.
5. (ornithology) A feather that covers the bases of flight feathers.

Translations

Anagrams

• corvet, vector

German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?kav?t/

Verb

covert

1. inflection of covern:
   1. third-person singular present
   2. second-person plural present
   3. second-person plural subjunctive I
   4. plural imperative

Old French

Alternative forms

• cuvert
• covri

Etymology

From Latin coopertus.

Verb

covert

1. past participle of covrir

Descendants

• English: covert
• French: couvert

English

Alternative forms

• privie (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English pryvy, prive, from Old French privé (“private”), from Latin pr?v?tus (“deprived”), perfect passive participle of pr?v? (“I bereave, deprive; I free, release”). Doublet of private.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?p??v.i/

Adjective

privy (comparative more privy, superlative most privy)

1. (now chiefly historical) Private, exclusive; not public; one's own. [from early 13th c.]

2. (now rare, archaic) Secret, hidden, concealed.
3. With knowledge of; party to; let in on. [from late 14th c.]

Derived terms

• privy council

Translations

Noun

privy (plural privies)

1. An outdoor facility for urination and defecation, whether open (latrine) or enclosed (outhouse).
2. A lavatory: a room with a toilet.
3. A toilet: a fixture used for urination and defecation.
   • 1864 January 26, J.G. Lindsay, letter to P.P.L. O'Connel, §8:

     Arconum—I found two chairs wanting in the gentlemen's room, and the bath room attached applied to other purposes... the privies and urinaries clean...

4. (law) A partaker; one having an interest in an action, contract, etc. to which he is not himself a party.

Synonyms

• (latrine, outhouse, or lavatory): See Thesaurus:bathroom
• (fixture): See Thesaurus:toilet

Derived terms

• privy house

Translations