What is "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.

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.

   Till thou canst rail the seal from off my bond Thou but offend'st thy lungs to speak so loud.
   --Shak.

3. That which seals or fastens; esp., the wax or wafer placed on a letter or other closed paper, etc., to fasten it.

4. That which confirms, ratifies, or makes stable; that which authenticates; that which secures; assurance. ``Under the seal of silence.''
   --Milton.

   Like a red seal is the setting sun On the good and the evil men have done.
   --Longfellow.

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.

   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.

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.

n. 1 The position of (w: Keeper of the Privy Seal). 2 The personal seal of a English or Scottish monarch. 3 A document to which such a seal is attached; specifically, a warrant demanding a loan.

A privy seal refers to the personal seal of a reigning monarch, used for the purpose of authenticating official government documents.