Etymograph

English

secret

Secret (noun) comes from Middle English secret, from Latin sēcrētum.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsēcrētum1‘a secret’
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500secret1
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1667secret1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English secret
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1667, John Milton, Book X: “Thou knewſt by name, and all th' ethereal powers,…”.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsēcrētumWiktionary, English secret‘a secret’
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500secretWiktionary, English secret
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1667secretWiktionary, English secret. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1667, John Milton, Book X: “Thou knewſt by name, and all th' ethereal powers,…”

The story

The noun is from Middle English secret, from Latin sēcrētum.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Word family

English words that share an ancestor with secret, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.

through Proto-Indo-European *krey- ‘to sift, separate, divide’

  • certain ← certeyn ← *certānus ← certus ← *kritos
  • crime ← cryme ← crīmen ← *kreimən ← *kréymn̥
  • criminal ← cryminal ← criminalis ← crimen ← *kreimən
  • crisis ← κρίσις ← κρίνω
  • discrimination ← discriminatio ← discrīminō ← discrīmen ← discernō
  • critic ← critique ← criticus ← κριτικός ← κρίνω
  • critique ← critica ← criticus ← κριτικός ← κρῐτής
  • riddle ← riddil ← hriddel ← *hrīdrā ← *hrīdrą
  • discretion ← discrecioun ← discrētiō ← discerno ← cernō
  • discriminate ← discrīminātus ← discrīminō ← discrīmen ← discernō
  • criterion ← κριτήριον ← κριτής ← κρίνω
  • discern ← discernen ← discerner ← discernere ← cernō

60 more relatives in the full family tree

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Another origin of secret

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*krey-‘to sift, separate, divide’next step skipped: Latin sēcernō
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsēcrētus‘separated, hidden’
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400secret
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500secrette
  5. Englishtodaysecret

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Today it means

noun A piece of knowledge that is hidden and intended to be kept hidden.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “secret”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Latin sēcrētum / secret