secret

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   known to only a few people and kept hidden from others

   They met in a secret location outside town.

2. 2
   noun

   a piece of information that is kept hidden from others

   Can you keep a secret?

3. 3
   noun

   the key or method that explains how something is done well

   The secret to a good cake is fresh ingredients.

Common collocations

• secret agent Adjective + noun

From Middle English secrette, from Old French secret, from Latin sēcrētus (“separated, hidden”), from ptp of sēcernō (“separate, to set aside, sunder out”), from cernō, from Proto-Indo-European *krey-. Displaced Old English dēagol (“secret”).

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