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Glite Dictionary
Lord Privy Seal

Lord Privy Seal

1 9.9
A senior UK government official who has an old title, no set duties, and sometimes has extra responsibilities
  • noun
  • /lɔːd ˈprɪvi siːl/
  • UK
translation icon : Lord Privy Seal
  • The Lord Privy Seal attended the cabinet meeting despite having no official departmental portfolio.

Examples

  • Historically, the Lord Privy Seal was responsible for the monarch's personal seal.

  • She was appointed Lord Privy Seal as part of a reshuffle in the House of Lords.

  • The Lord Privy Seal attended the meeting yesterday.

  • Who is the current Lord Privy Seal in the UK?

  • The Lord Privy Seal is a ceremonial position within the UK government.

  • During the meeting, the Lord Privy Seal presented the historical context of the title.

  • The new appointee to the Lord Privy Seal role has experience in governmental affairs.

Surface Forms

Lord Privy Seal singular
Lord Privy Seals plural

Morphology

Lord + privy + seal

This is a historical institutional title whose meaning (a specific senior UK government office often without distinct duties) is not predictable from the literal parts. Knowing 'Lord' (noble), 'privy' (informed/private) and 'seal' (stamp) might suggest a literal ‘noble with a private seal’ but does not allow a B1 learner to infer the modern official role, so the expression is idiomatic and non-compositional.

Etymology

Lord Privy Seal comes from an old court job: the person looked after the king or queen's private seal, a stamp used to close letters. The word privy means 'private', so the title named the keeper of the private stamp and today it is mostly a senior title with no fixed duties.