secret
noun
- information kept hidden
adjective
- kept from public knowledge
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈsiː.kɹɪt/ / /ˈsiː.kɹət/ / /ˈsiː.kɹɛt/
adj
Etymology: From Middle English secrette, from Old French secret, from Latin sēcrētus (“separated, hidden”), from ptp of sēcernō (“separate, to set aside, sunder out”), from cernō, from Proto-Indo-European *krey-. Displaced Old English dēagol (“secret”).
- Being or kept hidden.
“We went down a secret passage.”
“The ſecret things belong unto the Lord our God; but thoſe things which are reuealed belong unto us, and to our children for euer, that wee may doe all the words of this Law.”
- Withdrawn from general intercourse or notice; in retirement or secrecy; secluded.
“Sing Heav'nly Muſe, that on the secret top / Of Oreb, or of Sinai, didſt inſpire / That Shepherd, who firſt taught the choſen Seed, / In the Beginning how the Heav'ns and Earth / Roſe out of Chaos: [...]”
“secret in her sapphire cell”
- Faithful to a secret; not inclined to divulge or betray confidence; secretive, separate, apart.
“What neede we any ſpurre, but our owne cauſe / To pricke vs to redreſſe? What other Bond / Than ſecret Romans, that haue ſpoke the Word, / And will not palter?”
- Separate; distinct.
“They suppose two other divine hypostases superior thereunto, which were perfectly secret from matter.”
noun
Etymology: The noun is from Middle English secret, from Latin sēcrētum. Doublet of secretum. Displaced Old English dēagolnes (“a secret”). The verb is from the noun.
- A piece of knowledge that is hidden and intended to be kept hidden.
“"Can you keep a secret?" "Yes." "So can I."”
“To tell our own secrets is generally folly, but that folly is without guilt; to communicate those with which we are intrusted is always treachery”
- The key or principle by which something is made clear; the knack.
“The secret to a long-lasting marriage is compromise.”
- Something not understood or known.
“Thou knewſt by name, and all th' ethereal powers, / All ſecrets of the deep, all Natures works,”
- Private seclusion.
“The work was done in secret, so that nobody could object.”
- The genital organs.
- A form of steel skullcap.
- Any prayer spoken inaudibly and not aloud; especially, one of the prayers in the Tridentine Mass, immediately following the "orate, fratres", said inaudibly by the celebrant.
verb
Etymology: The noun is from Middle English secret, from Latin sēcrētum. Doublet of secretum. Displaced Old English dēagolnes (“a secret”). The verb is from the noun.
- To make or keep secret.
“… 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.”
- To hide secretly.