What is "privy council"

Privy \Priv"y\, a. [F. priv['e], fr. L. privatus. See Private.]

1. Of or pertaining to some person exclusively; assigned to private uses; not public; private; as, the privy purse. `` Privee knights and squires.''
   --Chaucer.

2. Secret; clandestine. `` A privee thief.''
   --Chaucer.

3. Appropriated to retirement; private; not open to the public. `` Privy chambers.''
   --Ezek. xxi. 1

4. 4. Admitted to knowledge of a secret transaction; secretly cognizant; privately knowing.

   His wife also being privy to it.
   --Acts v. 2.

   Myself am one made privy to the plot.
   --Shak.

   Privy chamber, a private apartment in a royal residence.

   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.

Council \Coun"cil\ (koun"s[i^]l), n. [F. concile, fr. L. concilium; con- + calare to call, akin to Gr. ??? to call, and E. hale, v., haul. Cf. Conciliate. This word is often confounded with counsel, with which it has no connection.]

1. An assembly of men summoned or convened for consultation, deliberation, or advice; as, a council of physicians for consultation in a critical case.

2. A body of man elected or appointed to constitute an advisory or a legislative assembly; as, a governor's council; a city council.

   An old lord of the council rated me the other day.
   --Shak.

3. Act of deliberating; deliberation; consultation.

   Satan . . . void of rest, His potentates to council called by night.
   --Milton.

   O great in action and in council wise.
   --Pope.

   Aulic council. See under Aulic.

   Cabinet council. See under Cabinet.

   City council, the legislative branch of a city government, usually consisting of a board of aldermen and common council, but sometimes otherwise constituted.

   Common council. See under Common.

   Council board, Council table, the table round which a council holds consultation; also, the council itself in deliberation.

   Council chamber, the room or apartment in which a council meets.

   Council fire, the ceremonial fire kept burning while the Indians hold their councils. [U.S.]
   --Bartlett.

   Council of war, an assembly of officers of high rank, called to consult with the commander in chief in regard to measures or importance or nesessity.

   Ecumenical council (Eccl.), an assembly of prelates or divines convened from the whole body of the church to regulate matters of doctrine or discipline.

   Executive council, a body of men elected as advisers of the chief magistrate, whether of a State or the nation. [U.S.]

   Legislative council, the upper house of a legislature, usually called the senate.

   Privy council. See under Privy. [Eng.]

   Syn: Assembly; meeting; congress; diet; parliament; convention; convocation; synod.

n. 1 A body of advisers to a sovereign functioning much as a cabinet. 2 The British Privy Council.

n. an advisory council to a ruler (especially to the British crown)

A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a nation, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the monarch's closest advisors to give confidential advice on state affairs.

The Privy Council of Northern Ireland is a formal body of advisors to the sovereign and was a vehicle for the monarch's prerogative powers in Northern Ireland. It was modelled on the Privy Council of the United Kingdom.

The Council was created in 1922 as a result of the division of Ireland into the Irish Free State and Northern Ireland. The latter remained part of the United Kingdom albeit with its own parliament. The previous Privy Council of Ireland was obsolete although never formally abolished in British law.

The Privy Council of Northern Ireland consisted of senior members of the Northern Ireland government including the Prime Minister of Northern Ireland; its members were appointed for life. The Council rarely met and was largely a ceremonial body with its responsibilities exercised by the cabinet. It was effectively abolished when the office of Governor of Northern Ireland and the Parliament of Northern Ireland were formally abolished in 1973 and its powers were transferred to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, a member of the British Cabinet.

Members are entitled to use the prefix The Right Honourable, whilst peers who are members use the post-nominal letters PC (NI). Four members are still living as of May 2014.