privet
/ˈpɹɪv.ɪt/
privet noun: any of various shrubs and small trees in the genus Ligustrum.
Noun
privet (countable and uncountable, plural privets)
- Any of various shrubs and small trees in the genus Ligustrum.
- Slowly she turned round and faced towards a neat white bungalow, set some way back from the path behind a low hedge of golden privet. No light showed, but someone there was playing the piano. The strange elusiveness of the soft, insistent melody seemed to draw her forward.1954, Alexander Alderson, chapter 1, in The Subtle Minotaur
Interjection
Forms of privet
| plural | privets |
|---|
Origin of privet
Unknown origin, but possibly connected to prime.
Borrowed from Russian приве́т (privét, “hello, hi”).
Words formed from privet
- Amur privet
- Amur River privet
- California privet
- Chinese privet
- common privet
- Cheyenne privet
- Egyptian privet
- European privet
- evergreen privet
- glossy privet
- ibolium privet
- ibota privet
- Japanese privet
- mock privet
- oval-leaved privet
- pipe privet
- privet hawk moth
- swampprivet
- waxleaf privet
- wild privet
Phrases with privet
Words that rhyme with privet
Questions about privet
- What does privet mean?
- Privet means any of various shrubs and small trees in the genus Ligustrum.
- What part of speech is privet?
- Privet can be a noun or an interjection.
- How do you pronounce privet?
- Privet is pronounced /ˈpɹɪv.ɪt/.
- What is the plural of privet?
- The plural of privet is privets.
Words near privet in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: privet (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-privet.wav.
Cite this entry: “privet.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/privet. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.