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American Dictionary of the English Language

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Secret


SE'CRET, adjective. [Latin secretus. This is given as the participle of secerno, but is radically a different word. The radical sense of seg is to separate, as in Latin seco, to cut off; and not improbably this word is contracted into the Latin se, a prefix in segrego, separo, etc.]

1. Properly, separate; hence, hid; concealed from the notice or knowledge of all persons except the individual or individuals concerned.

I have a secret errand to thee, O king. Judges 3:19.

2. Unseen; private; secluded; being in retirement.

There secret in her sapphire cell,

He with the Nais wont to dwell. Fenton.

3. Removed from sight; private; unknown.

Abide in a secret place, and hide thyself. I Sam. 19.

4. Keeping secrets; faithful to secrets entrusted; as secret Romans. [Unusual.]

5. Private; affording privacy.

6. Occult; not seen; not apparent; as the secret operations of physical causes.

7. Known to God only.

Secret things belong to the Lord our God. Deuteronomy 29:29.

Not proper to be seen; kept or such as ought to be kept from observation.

SE'CRET, noun. [Latin secretum]

1. Something studiously concealed. A man who cannot keep his own secrets, will hardly keep the secrets of others.

To tell our own secrets is often folly; to communicate those of others is treachery.

Rambler.

A talebearer revealeth secrets. Proverbs 11:13

2. A thing not discovered and therefore not known.

All secrets of the deep, all nature's works. Milton.

Hast thou heard the secret of God? Job 15:8.

3. Secrets, plural , The parts which modesty and propriety require to be concealed. In secret, in a private place; in privacy or secrecy; in a state or place not seen; privately.

Bread eaten in secret is pleasant. Proverbs 9:17.

SE'CRET, v. t. To keep private. [Little Used.]