secret

/ˈsikɹət/SEE-kruht

Meaningsifted apart

Common meaning: kept hidden

seapart, aside
cretto sift; to distinguishLewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), p. 318 · scan

‘apart, aside’ + ‘to sift’ → secret

Journey through time

Latincernō, crēvī, crētum‘to sift’
Old Frenchsecretsource
Englishsecret‘kept hidden’ · today

se- also in: secure select selector separate segregate

cret also in: crime concern discern discreet discrete

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
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US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
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Origin: Built on Latin cernō ‘to sift; to distinguish’.

Did you know: our wording, based on Lewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), entry cernō, p. 318 · dictionary scan; Skeat, Etymological Dictionary (1898), entry DISCREET, p. 169 · dictionary scan; Skeat, Etymological Dictionary (1898), entry SECRET, p. 537 · dictionary scan

Roots

cernō, crēvī, crētum Latin “to sift; to distinguish”

Related words

concern crime discern discreet discrete

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