🔒 For private use ⚖️ Private law 🏠 Made private

in privatum

9.9

For private use and not open to the public

idiom
/ɪn prɪˈveɪtəm/

Formal

: en privado

Certain documents were marked in privatum to restrict access to authorized personnel only.

Examples

The judge ruled that the information should be handled in privatum to protect the parties' privacy.
This meeting will be held in privatum to discuss sensitive issues.
The contract specified that the land was to be used in privatum and not for commercial purposes.
The documents were marked in privatum to ensure confidentiality.
The contract specified that the land was to be used in privatum and not for commercial purposes.
Certain documents were marked in privatum to restrict access to authorized personnel only.
The judge ruled that the information should be handled in privatum to protect the parties' privacy.

Synonyms

private

vsin privatum

∞ 1.8

For one person or group only and not open to others

is a Latin legal phrase used in formal documents rather than everyday speech

How Private

in privatum

Formal

9.9

privately

69 3.0

Surface Forms

in privatum main

Morphology

in + privatum

This is a Latin legalism: 'privatum' is not an English lexical item and would be unknown to an average B1 learner, so the meaning 'into private ownership' cannot be derived from the familiar English preposition 'in' alone. Because one constituent is a non‑English/technical form and the phrase occurs in specialized register, the expression is effectively idiomatic and unpredictable for B1 learners.

Etymology

In privatum comes from Latin and was often written on papers or land to show it was 'for private use'. So the image of a note saying 'private' helps explain why it now means 'not for public use'.