Secret Knowledge C One's Secernere B Hidden Fact

se·cret

I

\\ˈsē-krət\\ adjective1.
  a. kept from knowledge or view :

hidden

  b. marked by the habit of discretion :

closemouthed

  c. working with hidden aims or methods :

undercover

      a secret agent
  d. not acknowledged : unavowed
      a secret bride
  e. conducted in secret
      a secret trial
2. remote from human frequentation or notice :

secluded

3. revealed only to the initiated :

esoteric

4. designed to elude observation or detection
    a secret panel
5. containing information whose unauthorized disclosure could endanger national security — compare ,
• se·cret·ly adverb
Synonyms.
  , , , , , , mean done without attracting observation. implies concealment on any grounds for any motive
      met at a secret location
   stresses the fact of not being open or declared
      covert intelligence operations
   suggests taking pains to avoid being seen or heard especially in some misdoing
      the stealthy step of a burglar
   implies a sly or cautious stealthiness
      lovers exchanging furtive glances
   implies secrecy usually for an evil, illicit, or unauthorized purpose and often emphasizes the fear of being discovered
      a clandestine meeting of conspirators
   applies to action or behavior done secretly often with skillful avoidance of detection and in violation of custom, law, or authority
      the surreptitious stockpiling of weapons
   stresses fraud or deception
      an underhanded trick

II

noun1.
  a. something kept hidden or unexplained :

mystery

  b. something kept from the knowledge of others or shared only confidentially with a few
  c. a method, formula, or process used in an art or operation and divulged only to those of one's own company or craft :

trade secret

  d. plural : the practices or knowledge making up the shared discipline or culture of an esoteric society
2. a prayer traditionally said inaudibly by the celebrant just before the preface of the mass
3. something taken to be a specific or key to a desired end
    the secret of longevity
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secret
  late 14c. (n.), c.1400 (adj.), from L. secretus "set apart, withdrawn, hidden," originally pp.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 1590s. Secretive is attested from 1853. Secret agent first recorded 1715; secret service is from 1737; secret weapon is from 1936.

☞ secret
se·cret / 5si:krEt / adjective1. ~ (from sb) known about by only a few people; kept hidden from others
   秘密的；保密的；外人不得而知的:
    secret information / meetings / talks
   秘密信息/会议/会谈
   He tried to keep it secret from his family.
   这件事他试图瞒着家里。
   Details of the proposals remain secret.
   提议的细节仍不得而知。
   a secret passage leading to the beach
   通往海滩的秘密通道
⇨ see also

top secret

2. [only before noun] used to describe actions and behaviour that you do not tell other people about
   (指行为与习惯)暗中进行的,未公开的,隐秘的:
   He's a secret drinker.
   他偷偷地喝酒。
   her secret fears
   她内心的担忧
   a secret room
   秘室
3. [not usually before noun] ~ (about sth) (of a person or their behaviour 人或行为) liking to have secrets that other people do not know about; showing this
   诡秘；神秘
   SYN 

secretive

:
   They were so secret about everything.
   他们无论对什么都那样神秘兮兮的。
   Jessica caught a secret smile flitting between the ten of them.
   杰西卡看见他们俩诡秘地相视一笑。
• se·cret·ly adv.:
   The police had secretly filmed the conversations.
   警察已秘密地把几次谈话拍摄下来。
   She was secretly pleased to see him.
   见到他,她心中窃喜。 noun1. [C] something that is known about by only a few people and not told to others
   秘密；机密:
   Can you keep a secret ?
   你能保守秘密吗？
   The location of the ship is a closely guarded secret.
   那艘船的方位是高度机密。
   Shall we let him in on (= tell him) the secret ?
   我们要不要把秘密透露给他？
   He made no secret of his ambition (= he didn't try to hide it).
   他并没有掩饰自己的雄心壮志。
   She was dismissed for revealing trade secrets.
   她因泄露商业机密被解雇。
    official / State secrets
   官方/国家机密
2. (usually the secret) [sing.] the best or only way to achieve sth; the way a particular person achieves sth
   诀窍；秘诀:
   Careful planning is the secret of success.
   仔细计划是成功的诀窍。
   She still looks so young. What's her secret?
   她看着依旧那么年轻。她的保养秘诀是什么呢？
3. [C, usually pl.] a thing that is not yet fully understood or that is difficult to understand
   奥秘；奥妙:
   the secrets of the universe
   宇宙的奥秘
 IDIOMS 
▪ in 'secret
   without other people knowing about it
   秘密地；暗中:
   The meeting was held in secret.
   会议是秘密召开的。
⇨ more at

guilty

adj.,

open

adj.

secret adj.

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secret noun

se·cret
I. \ˈsēkrə̇t, usu -ə̇d.+V\ adjective
(sometimes -er/-est)
Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French, from Latin secretus, past participle of secernere to separate, distinguish, from sed-, se- apart (from sed, se without) + cernere to sift — more at ,
1.
 a. : kept from knowledge or view : ,
  < advised him, against his own judgment, to keep his mission secret for a time — W.C.Ford >
  < the baronage had plunged almost to a man into secret conspiracies — J.R.Green >
 b. : marked by the habit of discretion or faithful concealment : loyal to a confidence : trustworthy in preserving secrecy : , ,
 c. : working with hidden aims or methods :
  < a secret agent >
 d. : , ,
  < a secret enemy >
  < a secret bride >
2. : remote from human frequentation or notice : ,
 < secret harbors — R.W.Hatch >
3. : known or felt inwardly without avowal
 < secret alarm >
 < secret exultation >
:
 < his secret soul >
4.
 a. : revealed only to the initiated : ,
  < the secret learning of the cabalists >
 b. : lying beyond ordinary comprehension : relating to or dealing with mysteries or occult matters : ,
  < you secret, black, and midnight hags — Shakespeare >
5. : done or undertaken with evident purpose of concealment
 < we must stand together … in secret alliance — Jack London >
6. :
 < secret parts >
7. : constructed so as to elude observation or detection
 < a secret panel >
 < a secret passage >
or to conceal means or mechanics
 < secret nailing >
 < a secret dovetail >
8. : ,
9. : classified below top secret but above confidential in a scale rating the value of information to a nation's security — compare 1f
Synonyms:
 , , , , , , : is a general term applicable to anything hidden, concealed, known, or known about by a limited few.
  < seized a lamp … and hurried towards the secret passage — Horace Walpole >
  is the antonym of overt or open; it stresses the fact of being concealed or veiled
  < some form of coercion, overt or covert — John Dewey >
  < the meaning of the covert addresses of a villain — W.M.Thackeray >
  refers to a situation obtaining, a practice adhered to, a thing made or used in wary or timorous secrecy, often against usage, sanction, or authority
  < she proposed a clandestine marriage, but he swore that when afterwards detected, it would cause his dismissal — Anthony Trollope >
  < hunted by the gestapo for his anti-Nazi pamphlets and clandestine magazine La Pensée Libre — Time >
  may suggest slow, wary, sly avoidance of being observed as one proceeds in doing something evil, sinister, or reprehensible
  < a valet, of stealthy step, thence conducted me, in silence, through many dark and intricate passages — E.A.Poe >
  < comparable to … the suffocation of the York princes in the Tower. I'll admit the setting is consonant with that sort of stealthy, romantic crime — W.H.Wright >
  refers to actions done, emotions cherished, things held or enjoyed secretly, often with opportune cleverness, against usage or authority
  < enjoying a surreptitious cigarette — P.G.Wodehouse >
  < over the paling of the garden we might obtain an oblique and surreptitious view — Henry James †1916 >
  implies sly, wary, slinking caution to escape being perceived, recognized, or apprehended
  < asked the man, in a furtive frightened way — Charles Dickens >
  < furtive shortcuts across the fields of persons who might easily have bawled at me if they had caught sight of me — Siegfried Sassoon >
  and stress dishonest deception rather than merely the fact of secrecy in itself
  < whatever scrape he may have been in, I'll warrant there was nothing mean or underhanded in his share of it … he hasn't a tricky or a dishonest bone in his body — C.B.Nordhoff & J.N.Hall >
II. noun
(-s)
Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French & Latin; Middle French secret, from Latin secretum, from neuter of secretus, past participle of secernere to separate, distinguish — more at I
1.
 a. : something kept hidden : an unexplained or inscrutable process or fact (as an operation of God or of nature) :
  < an intimation of the secret of mysticism — Havelock Ellis >
 b. : something kept from the knowledge of others, concealed as one's private knowledge, or shared only confidentially with a few persons : information entrusted to one in confidence
  < a man who knew the secrets of one's innermost soul — H.J.Laski >
  — see
 c. : a method, formula, or process used in an art or a manufacturing operation and divulged only to those of one's own company or craft
  < secrets long cherished by monkish wine makers >
 d. secrets plural : the practices or knowledge making up the shared discipline or culture of an esoteric society
  < the secrets of the ancient Essenes >
2. [Medieval Latin secreta, from Latin, feminine of secretus, past participle of secernere] : a prayer said in a low or inaudible voice by the celebrant just before the preface in the mass
3. : something taken to be a specific or key to some desired end
 < called discreet and steady use of whiskey the secret of his living to the age of a hundred >
4. secrets plural : 1d(3)
5. : a coat of mail worn concealed under one's clothing
•
-
III. adverb
Etymology: secret (I)
archaic :
IV. transitive verb
(-ed/-ing/-s)
Etymology: secret (I)
obsolete : II

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