# secret

Pronunciation: say "SEE-krit" /ˈsiː.kɹɪt/

## Adjective

1. Kept hidden from others; not meant to be known, seen, or shared.
   - Simple: Kept hidden from other people so they do not know about it.
   - _The committee held secret negotiations away from the press._
   - _He kept his diagnosis secret from his colleagues for months._

## Noun

2. A piece of knowledge that is hidden and meant to be kept from others.
   - Simple: A piece of information you keep hidden so other people do not find out.
   - _The journalist refused to reveal the secret behind the leaked documents._
   - _Some secrets are too heavy to carry alone._
3. The key principle or knack that explains how something is done well.
   - Simple: The special trick or reason that makes something work well.
   - _Patience is the secret of a long and happy marriage._
   - _Great chefs carefully guard the secret of their finest sauces._
4. Something that is not understood or known.
   - Simple: Something that people do not yet understand or know about.
   - _Researchers continue to probe the secrets of the human brain._
   - _Each new telescope uncovers another secret of the distant universe._
5. Private seclusion, the condition of being withdrawn from other people and out of their sight.
   - Simple: A private state of being alone and away from other people, where no one can see you.
   - _The novelist wrote in secret for years, at an attic desk that no one else in the house ever used._
   - _Some grief is best borne in secret, away from even the kindest friends._

## Verb

6. To hide something away, especially in a concealed or secret place, so that others cannot find or see it.
   - Simple: To hide something in a place where other people will not find it.
   - _Officials moved to secret the report before the hearing._
   - _Investigators later found the missing files secreted in a storage unit across town._

## Noun

7. A discreet term for the genital organs. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: An old, gentle word for the private parts of the body.

## Adjective

8. Withdrawn from general notice; living in retirement or seclusion. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: Kept away from other people and living quietly out of sight.
9. Faithful in keeping confidences; not inclined to reveal or betray what one is told. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: Able to keep a secret and not likely to tell other people's private things.
10. Separate from the rest; distinct and set apart. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: Kept apart from others and not joined together.

## Other meanings

- (noun) A prayer spoken inaudibly rather than aloud, especially the one in the Tridentine Mass said quietly by the priest after the "Orate, fratres."
- (noun) A type of steel skullcap, worn for protection, often beneath an ordinary hat.

## Origin

**Meanings 2–7** — The noun goes back to Latin sēcrētum, which reached English as Middle English secret and replaced the Old English word dēagolnes ("a secret"). Secretum is a doublet, and the verb is a later formation from the noun.
**Meanings 1, 8–10** — Latin cernō goes back to Proto-Indo-European *krey-. From cernō came sēcernō ("to separate, set aside"), whose past participle sēcrētus meant "separated, hidden." This passed through Old French secret into Middle English as secrette, replacing the Old English word dēagol ("secret").

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/secret (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).