secretive
/ˈsikɹətɪv/SEE-kruh-tiv
/ˈsikɹətɪv/SEE-kruh-tiv
Meaninginclined to secrecy
Common meaning: keeping things hidden
- seapart, aside
- cretto sift; to distinguishLewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), p. 318 · scan
- iveadjective ending: tending to
‘apart, aside’ + ‘to sift’ → secretive
Journey through time
- Latincernō, crēvī, crētum‘to sift’
- Old Frenchsecretsource
- Englishsecret‘kept hidden’
- Englishformed in English from secretsecretive‘keeping things hidden’ · today
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.
- No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
- US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
- No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.
Origin: Formed in English from secret + -ive.
Dictionary: Skeat (1898), SECRET, p.537 · scan
Roots
- cernō, crēvī, crētum Latin “to sift; to distinguish”
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