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 cernō[1], from Proto-Indo-European *krey- [2][3]. Or from Latin sēcūrus (“untroubled, carefree”), from cura. Compare Russian cкрытый, сокрытый ('hidden', 'covered', from Russian сокрыть ('to hide', 'to conceal'), which in turn derives from Russian крыть ('to cover')).

      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 (countable and uncountable; plural secrets)

      1. (countable, uncountable) Knowledge that is hidden and intended to be kept hidden. [from later 14th c.]
        Can you keep a secret? So can I.
        • Rambler
          To tell our secrets is often folly; to communicate those of others is treachery.
      2. (uncountable) Something not understood or known.

      Synonyms

      Derived terms

      Terms derived from secret (noun)

      Translations

      knowledge that is hidden

      Adjective

      secret (comparative more secret, superlative most secret)

      1. Being or kept hidden. [from late 14th c.]
        • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 1, The China Governess[3]:
          The original family who had begun to build a palace to rival Nonesuch had died out before they had put up little more than the gateway, so that the actual structure which had come down to posterity retained the secret magic of a promise rather than the overpowering splendour of a great architectural achievement.
        We went down a secret passage.

      Alternative forms

      Synonyms

      Antonyms

      Derived terms

      secret (adjective)

      Related terms

      Translations

      being or kept hidden.

      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

      Derived terms

      References

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

      Statistics

      Anagrams

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      French

      Pronunciation

      Etymology 1

      From Latin secrētus.

      Adjective

      secret m (feminine secrète, masculine plural secrets, feminine plural secrètes)

      1. secret

      Etymology 2

      From Latin secrētum.

      Noun

      secret m (plural secrets)

      1. secret

      Anagrams

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      Middle French

      Adjective

      secret m (feminine singular secrete, masculine plural secrets, feminine plural secretes)

      1. secret
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      Romanian

      Etymology

      Borrowed from French secret, Latin secretum/secretus.

      Noun

      secret n (plural secrete)

      1. secret

      Synonyms

      Adjective

      secret

      1. secret, hidden

      Declension

      declension of secret
      singular plural
      masculine neuter feminine masculine neuter feminine
      nominative/
      accusative      		 indefinite secret secretă secreți secrete
      definite secretul secreta secreții secretele
      genitive/
      dative      		 indefinite secret secrete secreți secrete
      definite secretului secretei secreților secretelor

      Synonyms

      See also

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      Last modified on 18 June 2013, at 23:30