undisclosed

Etymology

It is formed from English un- + disclosed, the past participle of disclose.^[2][3][4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Not revealed or made known: 1571, in Arthur Golding's translation of Calvin's commentary on the Psalms.^[2] Etymonline dates it to the 1560s.^[3]

Semantic evolution

From 1581 the word could also mean "unhatched", following an old sense of disclose, to hatch; the Shorter Oxford calls this sense rare or obsolete.^[2][5] A verb undisclose, to keep from disclosing, is recorded from about 1600.^[3] In modern use the adjective is common in financial and legal contexts, of an unnamed sum, source or principal.^[4][6]

Timeline

• 1571 – not revealed or made known.^[2]
• 1581 – unhatched.^[2]
• c. 1600 – verb undisclose.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Not made known or revealed: The team was bought for an undisclosed fee.^[4][6][5]
2. Not named or identified: an undisclosed location.^[4][5]
3. (rare) Of a young bird, not yet hatched.^[5][2]

Related words

• disclosure
• nondisclosure
• disclose

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins