Found 1 items, similar to Privy seal.
English → English (gcide) Definition: Privy seal Seal \Seal\, n. [OE. seel, OF. seel, F. sceau, fr. L. sigillum a little figure or image, a seal, dim. of signum a mark, sign, figure, or image. See Sign, n., and cf. Sigil.] 1. An engraved or inscribed stamp, used for marking an impression in wax or other soft substance, to be attached to a document, or otherwise used by way of authentication or security. [1913 Webster] 2. Wax, wafer, or other tenacious substance, set to an instrument, and impressed or stamped with a seal; as, to give a deed under hand and seal. [1913 Webster] Till thou canst rail the seal from off my bond Thou but offend'st thy lungs to speak so loud. --Shak. [1913 Webster] 3. That which seals or fastens; esp., the wax or wafer placed on a letter or other closed paper, etc., to fasten it. [1913 Webster] 4. That which confirms, ratifies, or makes stable; that which authenticates; that which secures; assurance. “Under the seal of silence.” --Milton. [1913 Webster] Like a red seal is the setting sun On the good and the evil men have done. --Longfellow. [1913 Webster] 5. An arrangement for preventing the entrance or return of gas or air into a pipe, by which the open end of the pipe dips beneath the surface of water or other liquid, or a deep bend or sag in the pipe is filled with the liquid; a draintrap. [1913 Webster] Great seal. See under Great. Privy seal. See under Privy, a. Seal lock, a lock in which the keyhole is covered by a seal in such a way that the lock can not be opened without rupturing the seal. Seal manual. See under Manual, a. Seal ring, a ring having a seal engraved on it, or ornamented with a device resembling a seal; a signet ring. --Shak. [1913 Webster] Privy \Priv"y\, a. [F. priv['e], fr. L. privatus. See Private.] [1913 Webster] 1. Of or pertaining to some person exclusively; assigned to private uses; not public; private; as, the privy purse. “ Privee knights and squires.” --Chaucer. [1913 Webster] 2. Secret; clandestine. “ A privee thief.” --Chaucer. [1913 Webster] 3. Appropriated to retirement; private; not open to the public. “ Privy chambers.” --Ezek. xxi. 14. [1913 Webster] 4. Admitted to knowledge of a secret transaction; secretly cognizant; privately knowing. [1913 Webster] His wife also being privy to it. --Acts v. 2. [1913 Webster] Myself am one made privy to the plot. --Shak. [1913 Webster] Privy chamber, a private apartment in a royal residence. [Eng.] Privy council (Eng. Law), the principal council of the sovereign, composed of the cabinet ministers and other persons chosen by the king or queen. --Burrill. Privy councilor, a member of the privy council. Privy purse, moneys set apart for the personal use of the monarch; also, the title of the person having charge of these moneys. [Eng.] --Macaulay. Privy seal or Privy signet, the seal which the king uses in grants, etc., which are to pass the great seal, or which he uses in matters of subordinate consequence which do not require the great seal; also, elliptically, the principal secretary of state, or person intrusted with the privy seal. [Eng.] Privy verdict, a verdict given privily to the judge out of court; -- now disused. --Burrill. [1913 Webster]