Secret Definition

secret

English

Etymology

Middle English secrette from Old French secret from Latin sēcrētus (“separated, hidden”) from ptp of sēcernō (“separate, to set aside, sunder out”), from Latin cerno^[1], from Proto-Indo-European *krei- ^{[2] [3]}. Or from Latin sēcūrus (“untroubled, carefree”), from cura. Or cognat slavic kryt' (rus. сокрыть, сокровище) from greek κρύπτω, κρύβδην, κρύφα ("secret, hide, mystery").

Displaced native Middle English diȝel "secret" (from Old English dīegol "secret"), Middle English derne, deorne "dark, hidden, secret" (from Old English dierne "dark, hidden, secret"), Middle English roune, rowne "secret, secret counsel" (from Old English rūn), Middle English hidel "secrecy, secret" (from Old English hȳdels "hiding-stow").

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈsiːkɹɪt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: se‧cret

Noun

secret (plural secrets)

1. Knowledge that is hidden and intended to be kept hidden. [from later 14th c.]

   Can you keep a secret? So can I.

Derived terms

Adjective

secret (comparative more secret, superlative most secret)

1. Being or kept hidden. [from late 14th c.]

   We went down a secret passage.

Alternative forms

• secrette (obsolete)

Synonyms

• private
• confidential
• concealed

Antonyms

• overt

Derived terms

Related terms

• secrete
• secretion

Translations

Verb

secret (third-person singular simple present secrets, present participle secretting (UK) or secreting (US), simple past and past participle secretted (UK) or secreted (US))

1. (transitive) To make or keep secret. [from late 16th c.]
   • 1984, Peter Scott Lawrence, Around the mulberry tree, Firefly Books, p. 26

     [...] she would unfold the silk, press it with a smooth wooden block that she'd heated in the oven, and then once more secret it away.

   • 1986, InfoWorld, InfoWorld Media Group, Inc.

     Diskless workstations [...] make it difficult for individuals to copy information [...] onto a diskette and secret it away.

   • 1994, Phyllis Granoff & Koichi Shinohara, Monks and magicians: religious biographies in Asia, Mosaic Press, p. 50

     To prevent the elixir from reaching mankind and thereby upsetting the balance of the universe, two gods secret it away.

Usage notes

• All other dictionaries label this sense 'obsolete', but the citations above and on the citations page demonstrate recent usage as part of the idiom "secret [something] away".
• The present participle and past forms secreting and secreted are liable to confusion with the corresponding heteronymous forms of the similar verb secrete.

Quotations

• For more examples of the usage of this term see the citations page.

Derived terms

• secrete

References

• “†ˈsecret, v.” listed in the Oxford English Dictionary [2^nd Ed.; 1989]   Tagged as obsolete.  Notes: “In the inflected forms it is not easy to distinguish between ˈsecret and secrete v.”
• “Se"cret (?), v. t.” listed on page 1,301 of Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary (1913)   Se"cret (?), v. t. To keep secret. [Obs.] Bacon.

1. ^ George William Lemon. English etymology
2. ^ [1]
3. ^ [2]

Statistics

• Most common English words before 1923: March · whatever · reach · #670: secret · showed · ancient · parts

Anagrams

• certes, erects, resect, terces

French

Pronunciation

• audio

  (file)

Etymology 1

From Latin secrētus.

Adjective

secret m. (f. secrète, m. plural secrets, f. plural secrètes)

1. secret

Etymology 2

From Latin secrētum.

Noun

secret m. (plural secrets)

1. secret

Anagrams

• certes, crêtes, terces

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French secret, Latin secretum/secretus.

Noun

secret n. (plural secrete)

1. secret

Synonyms

• taină

Adjective

secret

1. secret, hidden

Declension

Synonyms

• tainic, ascuns

See also

• săcret

Related 'Secret' Searches:

See Also:

• Monita Secreta
• Secret Society
• Top Secret
• Top Secret Theories
• Ultra Top Secret