The authors agree that this surname derives from the term presbytera, from the Greek πρεσβύτερος (presbyteros), which originally meant "the eldest" and in time came to designate exclusively the priest. From that noun was formed presbytera —in late Greek and Late Latin— with the sense of "wife of the priest," since Greek-Orthodox priests were permitted to marry. The form evolved towards previtera or privitera in the local speech of Magna Graecia.

F. Miranda broadens the semantic scope of the term: in time it also extended to the woman who lived with or attended the priest, as well as to the habitual frequenter of the clergy. G. P. Holmes stresses that the surname arose as a nickname linked to that term, to indicate a family or dependence relation with that figure. F. De Laurentiis frames it generically as a surname of southern origin linked to the ecclesiastical sphere.

E. Rossoni notes that Privitera is a clearly Sicilian surname, while the variant Priviteri, almost non-existent, also belongs to Sicily. Miranda specifies that the surname is present in numerous Sicilian localities of the provinces of Catania, Messina, Palermo, Syracuse and the Enna area, with an extension also to other regions such as Lombardy, Lazio, Piedmont, Tuscany, Veneto and Emilia-Romagna.