done, made, or conducted without the knowledge of others: secret negotiations.
2.
kept from the knowledge of any but the initiated or privileged: a secret password.
3.
faithful or cautious in keeping confidential matters confidential; close-mouthed; reticent.
4.
designed or working to escape notice, knowledge, or observation: a secret drawer; the secret police.
5.
secluded, sheltered, or withdrawn: a secret hiding place.
6.
beyond ordinary human understanding; esoteric.
7.
(of information, a document, etc.)
a.
bearing the classification secret.
b.
limited to persons authorized to use information documents, etc., so classified.
–noun
8.
something that is or is kept secret, hidden, or concealed.
9.
a mystery: the secrets of nature.
10.
a reason or explanation not immediately or generally apparent.
11.
a method, formula, plan, etc., known only to the initiated or the few: the secret of happiness; a trade secret.
12.
a classification assigned to information, a document, etc., considered less vital to security than top-secret but more vital than confidential, and limiting its use to persons who have been cleared, as by various government agencies, as trustworthy to handle such material. Compare classification(def. 5).
13.
(initial capital letter) Liturgy. a variable prayer in the Roman and other Latin liturgies, said inaudibly by the celebrant after the offertory and immediately before the preface.
—Idiom
14.
in secret, unknown to others; in private; secretly: A resistance movement was already being organized in secret.
[Origin: 1350–1400; ME secrette < OF secret < L sécrétus hidden, orig. ptp. of sécernere to secern]
Operating in a hidden or confidential manner: a secret agent.
Not expressed; inward: their secret thoughts.
Not frequented; secluded: wandered about the secret byways of Paris.
Known or shared only by the initiated: secret rites.
Beyond ordinary understanding; mysterious.
Containing information, the unauthorized disclosure of which poses a grave threat to national security.
n.
Something kept hidden from others or known only to oneself or to a few.
Something that remains beyond understanding or explanation; a mystery.
A method or formula on which success is based: The secret of this dish is in the sauce.
Secret A variable prayer said after the Offertory and before the Preface in the Mass.
[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin sēcrētus, from past participle of sēcernere, to set aside : sē-, apart; see s(w)e- in Indo-European roots + cernere, to separate; see krei- in Indo-European roots.]
se'cret·ly adv.
Synonyms: These adjectives mean deliberately hidden from view or knowledge. Secret is the most general: a desk with a secret compartment; secret negotiations. Stealthy suggests quiet, cautious deceptiveness intended to escape notice: heard stealthy footsteps on the stairs. Covert describes something that is concealed or disguised: protested covert actions undertaken by the CIA. Clandestine implies stealth and secrecy for the concealment of an often illegal or improper purpose: clandestine intelligence operations. Furtive suggests the slyness, shiftiness, and evasiveness of a thief: a menacing and furtive look to his eye.
Something surreptitious is stealthy, furtive, and often unseemly or unethical: the surreptitious mobilization of troops preparing for a sneak attack. Underhand implies unfairness, deceit, or slyness as well as secrecy: achieved success by underhand methods.
1378 (n.), 1399 (adj.), from L. secretus "set apart, withdrawn, hidden," originally pp. of secernere "to set apart," from se- "without, apart," prop. “on one's own” (from PIE *sed-, from base *s(w)e-; see idiom) + cernere "separate" (see crisis). The verb meaning "to keep secret" (described in OED as "obsolete") is attested from 1595. Secretive is attested from 1853. Secret agent first recorded 1715; secret service is from 1737; secret weapon is from 1936.
not open or public; kept private or not revealed; "a secret formula"; "secret ingredients"; "secret talks"
2.
conducted with or marked by hidden aims or methods; "clandestine intelligence operations"; "cloak-and-dagger activities behind enemy lines"; "hole-and-corner intrigue"; "secret missions"; "a secret agent"; "secret sales of arms"; "surreptitious mobilization of troops"; "an undercover investigation"; "underground resistance" [syn: clandestine]
3.
not openly made known; "a secret marriage"; "a secret bride" [syn: unavowed]
4.
communicated covertly; "their secret signal was a wink"; "secret messages"
5.
not expressed; "secret (or private) thoughts"
6.
designed to elude detection; "a hidden room or place of concealment such as a priest hole"; "a secret passage"; "the secret compartment in the desk" [syn: hidden]
7.
hidden from general view or use; "a privy place to rest and think"; "a secluded romantic spot"; "a secret garden" [syn: privy]
8.
(of information) given in confidence or in secret; "this arrangement must be kept confidential"; "their secret communications" [syn: confidential]
9.
indulging only covertly; "a secret alcoholic"
10.
having an import not apparent to the senses nor obvious to the intelligence; beyond ordinary understanding; "mysterious symbols"; "the mystical style of Blake"; "occult lore"; "the secret learning of the ancients" [syn: mysterious]
11.
the next to highest level of official classification for documents
noun
1.
something that should remain hidden from others (especially information that is not to be passed on); "the combination to the safe was a secret"; "he tried to keep his drinking a secret"
2.
information known only to a special group; "the secret of Cajun cooking"
3.
something that baffles understanding and cannot be explained; "how it got out is a mystery"; "it remains one of nature's secrets" [syn: mystery]
Hid"den\, p. p. & a. from Hide. Concealed; put out of view; secret; not known; mysterious. Hidden fifths or octaves (Mus.), consecutive fifths or octaves, not sounded, but suggested or implied in the parallel motion of two parts towards a fifth or an octave. Syn: Hidden, Secret, Covert. Usage: Hidden may denote either known to on one; as, a hidden disease; or intentionally concealed; as, a hidden purpose of revenge. Secret denotes that the thing is known only to the party or parties concerned; as, a secret conspiracy. Covert literally denotes what is not open or avowed; as, a covert plan; but is often applied to what we mean shall be understood, without openly expressing it; as, a covert allusion. Secret is opposed to known, and hidden to revealed. Bring to light the hidden things of darkness. --1 Cor. iv. 5. My heart, which by a secret harmony Still moves with thine, joined in connection sweet. --Milton. By what best way, Whether of open war, or covert guile, We now debate. --Milton.
Se"cre*cy\, n.; pl. Secrecies. [From Secret.]1. The state or quality of being hidden; as, his movements were detected in spite of their secrecy. The Lady Anne, Whom the king hath in secrecy long married. --Shak. 2. That which is concealed; a secret. [R.] --Shak. 3. Seclusion; privacy; retirement. "The pensive secrecy of desert cell." --Milton. 4. The quality of being secretive; fidelity to a secret; forbearance of disclosure or discovery. It is not with public as with private prayer; in this, rather secrecy is commanded than outward show. --Hooker.
Se"cret\, a. [F. secret (cf. Sp.& Pg. secreto, It. secreto, segreto), fr. L. secretus, p. p. of secrernere to put apart, to separate. See Certain, and cf. Secrete, Secern.]1. Hidden; concealed; as, secret treasure; secret plans; a secret vow. --Shak. The secret things belong unto the Lord our God; but those things which are revealed belong unto us. --Deut. xxix. 29. 2. Withdraw from general intercourse or notice; in retirement or secrecy; secluded. There, secret in her sapphire cell, He with the Na["i]s wont to dwell. --Fenton. 3. Faithful to a secret; not inclined to divulge or betray confidence; secretive. [R.] Secret Romans, that have spoke the word, And will not palter. --Shak. 4. Separate; distinct. [Obs.] They suppose two other divine hypostases superior thereunto, which were perfectly secret from matter. --Cudworth. Syn: Hidden; concealed; secluded; retired; unseen; unknown; private; obscure; recondite; latent; covert; clandestine; privy. See Hidden.
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