All 3 Uses of
privy
in
The Pardoner's Tale
- Wherefore I rede,* that cut** among us all *advise **lots We draw, and let see where the cut will fall: And he that hath the cut, with hearte blithe Shall run unto the town, and that full swithe,* *quickly And bring us bread and wine full privily: And two of us shall keepe subtilly This treasure well: and if he will not tarry, When it is night, we will this treasure carry, By one assent, where as us thinketh best.†
*
- e. wine* That of his throat he maketh his privy Through thilke cursed superfluity The apostle saith, <14> weeping full piteously, There walk many, of which you told have I, —I say it now weeping with piteous voice, —That they be enemies of Christe's crois;* *cross Of which the end is death; womb* is their God.†
- "Sir," quoth the boy, "it needeth never a deal;* *whit It was me told ere ye came here two hours; He was, pardie, an old fellow of yours, And suddenly he was y-slain to-night; Fordrunk* as he sat on his bench upright, *completely drunk There came a privy thief, men clepe Death, That in this country all the people slay'th, And with his spear he smote his heart in two, And went his way withoute wordes mo'.†
Definitions:
-
(1)
(privy as in: privy to her real identity) informed about something secret or not generally known
-
(2)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) meaning too rare to warrant focus:
More rarely, privy can refer to a hidden place, outhouse, or toilet.