Etymologically
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secretive

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈsiːkɹɪtɪv/[1]

Etymology

The modern word is a back-formation from secretiveness,[2][3][4][5][6] which was a term of phrenology for a propensity to secrecy,[3][7][2] formed after French secrétivité, a phrenological word of Gall's (1808).[2][3][5] It was felt to be formed from English secret + -ive,[2] and is now also taken as formed from secrete (“to hide”) and the suffix.[2] In the 15th century the word had already been formed in the same way, but that use died out.[2][6] The adjective is from French secret, from Latin sēcrētus (“set apart, hidden”), the past participle of sēcernō (“to set apart”).[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Secret, hidden: about 1470, in John Hardyng's Chronicle, where it is used for the rhyme.[2][6] Etymonline has a Middle English secretife from the mid-15th century.[7]

Semantic evolution

The Middle English word was rare and soon died out.[2][6] The modern adjective grew out of the language of phrenology: secretiveness is recorded from 1815, in Spurzheim,[2][7] for one of the propensities of the mind.[3] Etymonline finds the adjective implied in that year,[7] Merriam-Webster dates it to 1835,[4] and the OED's first record of the sense "inclined to secrecy, reticent" is from 1853, in Charlotte Brontë's Villette.[2] From 1865 it was used of looks and the like that show secretiveness,[2][4] and a rare sense "serving to conceal" is recorded from 1830.[2]

Timeline

  • c. 1470 – secret, hidden (now obsolete).[2][6]
  • 1815 – secretiveness, in phrenology; the adjective is implied.[2][7]
  • 1830 – serving to conceal (rare).[2]
  • 1835 – inclined to secrecy, in Merriam-Webster's dating.[4] The OED's first record of the sense is in Charlotte Brontë's Villette (1853).[2]
  • 1865 – of looks: showing secretiveness.[2]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Inclined to secrecy; keeping one's thoughts, plans or doings hidden; reticent: He was secretive about where he spent his evenings.[8][4][2]
  2. Of looks or manner: showing a wish to keep things hidden: a secretive glance.[4][2][6]
  3. Serving to conceal (rare).[2]
  4. Secretory.[4]
  5. (obsolete) Secret, hidden.[2][6]

Word family

  • secretively
  • secretiveness
  • nonsecretive
  • supersecretive
  • unsecretive

Usage notes

The first edition of the OED (1911) gave both /ˈsiːkrətɪv/ and /sɪˈkriːtɪv/, the second linking the word with secrete.[2] Merriam-Webster discusses it with its synonyms at silent.[4]

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  8. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins