secret

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[edit] English

[edit] 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").

[edit] Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈsiːkɹɪt/
  • Audio (US)
    		(file)
  • Hyphenation: se‧cret

[edit] 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.

[edit] Derived terms

Terms derived from secret (noun)

[edit] Translations

knowledge that is hidden

[edit] Adjective

secret (comparative more secret, superlative most secret)

  1. Being or kept hidden. [from late 14th c.]
    We went down a secret passage.

[edit] Alternative forms

[edit] Synonyms

[edit] Antonyms

[edit] Derived terms

secret (adjective)

[edit] Related terms

[edit] Translations

being or kept hidden.

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] Quotations

[edit] Derived terms

[edit] References

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

[edit] Statistics

[edit] Anagrams

[edit] French

[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] Etymology 1

From Latin secrētus.

[edit] Adjective

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

  1. secret

[edit] Etymology 2

From Latin secrētum.

[edit] Noun

secret m. (plural secrets)

  1. secret

[edit] Anagrams

[edit] Romanian

[edit] Etymology

Borrowed from French secret, Latin secretum/secretus.

[edit] Noun

secret n. (plural secrete)

  1. secret

[edit] Synonyms

[edit] Adjective

secret

  1. secret, hidden

[edit] 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

[edit] Synonyms

[edit] See also

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