secerno

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [seːˈkɛr.noː]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [seˈt͡ʃɛr.no]^[1]

Forms

sēcernō (present infinitive sēcernere, perfect active sēcrēvī, supine sēcrētum); third conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is from sē- “apart” and cernō “to sift, distinguish”.^[2][1][3] Lucretius has the old infinitive ⟨sēcernier⟩.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citation is from Ennius, of discarding what is unfit.^[2] Köbler dates Ennius 204–169 BC.^[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant to separate off, remove from a group, as in Varro, and Cicero's sē ā bonīs sēcernere “to separate oneself from the good”, to cut off by a barrier, and to detach from an alliance.^[2][5] It meant to set aside for a purpose, as in Livy, or as unfit, discard, as in Ennius.^[2] From Cicero it meant to distinguish, treat as distinct, and to divide into parts.^[2] Lewis and Short call it frequent and classical but absent from Caesar.^[3]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant to separate, set apart, hide, distinguish, discern.^[6] Its participle sēcrētus “set apart, hidden” and the noun sēcrētum gave English secret in the late 14th century, and English secrete in 1707 is a back-formation from secretion.^[7]

Timeline

• 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it of discarding.^[2][4]
• 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of separating off.^[2][4]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of distinguishing.^[2][4]
• late 14th century – English secret is recorded, from sēcrētum.^[7]

Meanings

Verb

1. To separate off; to cut off; to detach.^[2]
2. To set aside; to discard.^[2]
3. To distinguish, treat as distinct.^[2]
4. To divide into parts.^[2]

Word family

• sēcrētārium
• sēcrētim
• sēcrētiō
• sēcrētārius
• sēcrētē
• sēcrētō
• sēcrētum
• sēcrētus

Related words

• cernō
• concernō
• dēcernō
• discernō
• excernō
• incernō
• English secret
• English secrete

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
6. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com