secret: [14] Etymologically, something that is secret is ‘separated’ from others, hence put out of the way, hidden. The word comes via Old French secret from Latin sēcrētus, an adjectival use of the past participle of sēcernere ‘separate’. This was a compound verb formed from the prefix sē- ‘apart’ and cernere ‘separate’ (source also of English certain, discern, excrement, etc).
From the 16th to the 18th centuries, secret was used as a verb, meaning ‘hide’, but it was then altered to secrete, on the model of Latin sēcrētus. (The other verb secrete, ‘produce fluids or other substances’ [18], is a back-formation from secretion [17], which goes back to Latin sēcrētiō ‘separation’, a derivative of sēcernere.) A secretary is etymologically a ‘secret’ or confidential helper. => certain, decree, discern, excrement, secretary
secret (v.)
"to keep secret" (described in OED as "obsolete"), 1590s, from secret (n.). Related: Secreted; secreting.
secret (n.)
late 14c., from Latin secretus "set apart, withdrawn; hidden, concealed, private," past participle of secernere "to set apart, part, divide; exclude," from se- "without, apart," properly "on one's own" (see se-) + cernere "separate" (see crisis).
As an adjective from late 14c., from French secret, adjective use of noun. Open secret is from 1828. Secret agent first recorded 1715; secret service is from 1737; secret weapon is from 1936.
实用例句
1. The word "secretary" comes from the same Latin root as the word "secret".
单词secretary和secret有同样的拉丁词根。
来自柯林斯例句
2. It's an open secret that the security service bugged telephones.
安全部门窃听电话是人人皆知的秘密。
来自柯林斯例句
3. The nature of the polymer is currently a trade secret.
这一聚合物的性质目前是个商业机密。
来自柯林斯例句
4. He's accused of misusing $17.5 million from a secret government slush fund.
他被指控滥用秘密的政府行贿基金，金额达1,750万美元。
来自柯林斯例句
5. The exact locations are being kept secret for reasons of security.
