secret French · revision 16453

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1138 (segrei)|origins=la cernō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /sə.kʁɛ/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA: /sə.ɡʁɛ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''secret''' (feminine secrète, masculine plural secrets, feminine plural secrètes)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French noun [[m|fro|segrei]] (about 1138), [[m|fro|secroi]] (about 1150), [[m|fro|secré]] (about 1155); adjective ''segrei'', ''secret'' (1180), ''secré'' and ''segret''; the form ''secret'' won out after the Latin.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The adjective is [[bor|la|sēcrētus|t=separate; solitary; hidden]], the past participle of [[m|la|sēcernō|t=to set apart]], and the noun is from [[m|la|sēcrētum|t=secluded place; secret thought; mysteries]], the same word used as a neuter noun.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|11, 375b) The Old French forms “secré”, “secrei”, “segré” and “segrei” were attempts to adapt the Latin word to French.^(TLFi) “Sēcernō” is formed from [[m|la|sē-|t=apart]] and [[m|la|cernō|t=to sift; distinguish; decide]], which Rey traces to an Indo-European root “*krei-” “to separate”, found in Greek, Italic, Celtic and Germanic.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989) Wiktionary treats the Old French word as an early borrowing that was then inherited.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ Compare [[pro|secret]] and [[es|secreto]].^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The noun is first found about 1138, for knowledge reserved to a few.^(DHLF 1992) The adjective appears about 1150 in the ''Roman de Thèbes'', meaning “keeping silent, reserved”: ''La cort s'estut morne et secroie'' (“the court stood gloomy and silent”).^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The noun soon meant a private exchange giving rise to counsel (about 1155), especially in matters of political power, the link with ''secrétaire''.^(DHLF 1992) ''En secret'' is found from about 1150, and ''sous le sceau du secret'' (1681) goes back to the royal seal for secret letters (1316).^(DHLF 1992) Euphemistically ''les secrets'' were the private parts (about 1360).^(DHLF 1992) A secret was also a process known to a few (1270), then a clever means (1643) and the methods of an art (1685), as in ''secret de fabrication''.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ The adjective meant “secluded” of places (about 1165) and “known to few, hidden” by 1174–1176.^(TLFi) Amyot has ''maladie secrète'' for venereal disease (1559), Furetière ''sciences secrètes'' (1690), and the pharmacist's ''remède secret'' is found in 1833.^(TLFi)^(BHVF) ''Top secret'' (1953) is borrowed from American English, whose ''secret'' came from French.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1138 – The noun ''segrei''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * c. 1150 – The adjective, “reserved”, in the ''Roman de Thèbes'', ''en secroi''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * c. 1165 – “Secluded”, of places, in Benoît de Sainte-Maure.^(TLFi)

+ * 1316 – ''Scel du secret'', the seal for secret letters.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1380 – The form ''secret''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1559 – ''Maladie secrète'' in Amyot.^(TLFi)

+ * 1681 – ''Sous le sceau du secret''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1953 – ''Top secret''.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|secret]], kept hidden, known to few: ''documents secrets'', ''société secrète''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Le Robert)

+ # (of a place or passage) Hidden: ''une porte secrète''.^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+ # Inner, private: ''vie secrète''.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # (of a person) [[m|en|discreet]], reserved.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A secret: ''confier un secret'', ''garder un secret''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+ # [[m|en|secrecy]]: ''promettre le secret'', ''en secret''.^(Larousse)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A [[m|en|mystery]]: ''les secrets de la nature''.^(Larousse)

+ # A knack, a means of success: ''le secret du bonheur''.^(Larousse)

+ # A hidden mechanism: ''un tiroir à secret''.^(Larousse)

+ # ''Au secret'': in solitary confinement: ''mettre au secret''.^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''Secret professionnel'', ''secret d'État'', ''secret de Polichinelle'', an open secret.^(Wiktionary)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[secrètement]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[secrétaire]]

+ * [[discerner]]

+ * [[décerner]]

+ * [[la|sēcrētus]]

+ * [[en|secret]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ An older pronunciation [səgrɛ], ''segret'', was still kept by some speakers in Littré's day.^(Littré 1873)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}