Definitions for "Private Key"
A private key is necessary to decrypt documents encrypted with a public key in PGP.
In asymmetric cryptography, the key which is held only by the user for signing and decryption.
The confidential half of the asymmetric key pair used in public-key cryptography. Unlike the "secret key" used in symmetric-key cryptography — a single key known by both the sender and the receiver — a private key is known only by the recipient. See public-key cryptography and secret-key cryptography.
an integer encoded as an "mpint" as described above
a number that is supposed to be known only to a particular entity
Production triggering Project Status Report
(Advanced Security Administrator's Guide; search in this book) [definition #2] (Internet Directory Administrator's Guide; search in this book)