privy purse
1
9.9
- noun
- UK
:
fondo privado
- The recent reforms allowed the queen to access her privy purse for charitable donations without government oversight.
Examples
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As first lord of the treasury, lord chamberlain... attorney general, chancellor of the exchequer... privy purse or private secretary?
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Because business interests dominated mainstream English-language newspapers, some of them were critical of Gandhi for her nationalization of banks and abolition of privy purses.
Academic text (2017) -
The king used money from his privy purse to fund his personal projects, which were separate from state expenses.
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During the meeting, the treasurer mentioned that the royal privy purse had sufficient funds for the banquet.
How Big
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound is partly compositional: 'purse' clearly denotes money and 'privy' relates to privacy/confidentiality, so a learner could infer the sense 'private funds' or 'personal money'. However 'privy' is relatively low-frequency/archaic and the specific institutional/royal allowance nuance (separate from state funds) is not fully predictable from the parts, so full understanding likely requires exposure.
Etymology
Privy purse comes from a simple image: privy means 'private' and purse is a small bag for money, so it was the king or queen's own money kept apart from official money. That's why 'privy purse' now means an allowance for a ruler's personal expenses.