secret English · revision 2851

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1378, Piers Plowman|origins=la cernō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈsiː.krət/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|secret]],^(MWU 2024) [[bor|fro|secret|t=concealed, private]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) and directly [[bor|la|sēcrētus|t=set apart, withdrawn, hidden]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) the past participle of [[m|la|sēcernō|t=I set apart, divide]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from sē- “apart” and [[m|la|cernō|t=I separate, sift]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) the source of [[certain]].^(Barnhart 1988) Etymonline takes cernō to [[ine-pro|*krey-|alt=*krei-|t=to sieve]].^(Etymonline) The noun is from Latin sēcrētum “a secret”, the neuter used as a noun.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) A form secre, from an Old French variant, was common from the 14th to the 16th century and seems at first to have been the more frequent.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The adjective, “hidden, concealed, private”: about 1378, in a version of ''Piers Plowman'',^(Barnhart 1988) the late 14th century.^(Etymonline) The noun, “something kept secret, a mystery”, is from about 1380, in Chaucer's translation of Boethius,^(Barnhart 1988) and secre, “a prayer said in a low voice”, from about 1300.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In the late 14th century a secret was what is hidden from human understanding, and in the early 15th century also what is hidden from general knowledge.^(Etymonline) The sense “something studiously concealed, that should not be revealed” is from the mid-15th century.^(Etymonline) A place removed from people, secluded, is secret from the early 16th century.^(OED 1989) The sense “the key by which a difficulty is solved”, as in ''the secret of success'', is from 1738, perhaps from the idea of a method hidden from the uninitiated (late 15th century).^(Etymonline) The verb, “to keep secret”, is from the 1590s.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) ''Secret weapon'' is by the 1590s, ''secret agent'' by 1715, ''secret service'' from 1737 and ''secret police'' by 1823.^(Etymonline) The same Latin word gave [[secretary]] and [[secrete]].^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1300 – secre, a low-voiced prayer.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1378 – adjective, hidden.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1380 – noun, a mystery.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * mid-15th century – something kept hidden.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1590s – verb, to keep secret.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1715 – ''secret agent''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1737 – ''secret service''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1738 – the key to success.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Kept hidden from others or known only to a few.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Working in a hidden way: ''a secret agent''.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # Not openly expressed; inward: ''a secret longing''.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # Secluded; hidden from view: ''a secret garden''.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # Beyond ordinary understanding; [[mysterious]].^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # Something kept hidden or known only to a few.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Something not understood; a [[mystery]].^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # A method or key on which success depends.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # ''(Christianity)'' A prayer said by the priest before the Preface of the [[Mass]].^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[secretly]]

+ * [[secretness]]

+ * [[nonsecret]]

+ * [[supersecret]]

+ * [[secrete]]

+ * [[ultrasecret]]

+ * [[secretive]]

+ * [[top-secret]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[secretion]]

+ * [[secrecy]]

+ * [[secretary]]

+ * [[certain]]

+ * [[discern]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Secret'' is the most general word for what is deliberately hidden;^(AHD) ''stealthy'' and ''furtive'' suggest sly, quiet movement, ''covert'' and ''clandestine'' concealment for an illicit purpose, and ''surreptitious'' a hurried, guilty secrecy.^(AHD)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}