secret
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
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[edit]
Noun[edit]
secret (countable and uncountable; plural secrets)
- (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.
- (uncountable) Something not understood or known.
Synonyms[edit]
Derived terms[edit]
Terms derived from secret (noun)
Translations[edit]
knowledge that is hidden
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Adjective[edit]
secret (comparative more secret, superlative most secret)
- 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.
- 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 1, The China Governess[3]:
Alternative forms[edit]
- secrette (obsolete)
Synonyms[edit]
Antonyms[edit]
Derived terms[edit]
secret (adjective)
Related terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
being or kept hidden.
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Verb[edit]
secret (third-person singular simple present secrets, present participle secretting (UK) or secreting (US), simple past and past participle secretted (UK) or secreted (US))
- (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.
- 1984, Peter Scott Lawrence, Around the mulberry tree, Firefly Books, p. 26
Usage notes[edit]
- 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[edit]
- For more examples of usage of this term, see the citations page.
Derived terms[edit]
References[edit]
- “†ˈsecret, v.” listed in the Oxford English Dictionary [2nd 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.
Statistics[edit]
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Most common English words before 1923: March · whatever · reach · #670: secret · showed · ancient · parts
Anagrams[edit]
French[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Etymology 1[edit]
From Latin secrētus.
Adjective[edit]
secret m (feminine secrète, masculine plural secrets, feminine plural secrètes)
Etymology 2[edit]
From Latin secrētum.
Noun[edit]
secret m (plural secrets)
Anagrams[edit]
Middle French[edit]
Adjective[edit]
secret m (feminine singular secrete, masculine plural secrets, feminine plural secretes)
Romanian[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Borrowed from French secret, Latin secretum/secretus.
Noun[edit]
Synonyms[edit]
Adjective[edit]
secret
Declension[edit]
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[edit]
See also[edit]
Categories:
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Old French
- English terms derived from Latin
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English uncountable nouns
- English adjectives
- English verbs
- 1000 English basic words
- French terms derived from Latin
- French adjectives
- French nouns
- French masculine nouns
- Middle French adjectives
- Romanian terms derived from French
- Romanian terms derived from Latin
- Romanian nouns
- Romanian adjectives
