Confidentiality

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The practice of keeping sensitive information private and restricting access to authorized individuals only
2. The principle of ensuring that private information remains secure and is only disclosed to those with the necessary permission
3. The act of protecting personal or sensitive data from unauthorized access while sharing it only with permitted entities

Etymology: The word is a chain of Latin pieces. Its root is "fidere", "to trust", which gave Latin "confidere" (to trust completely), and from that came "confidentia", the state of trusting. English reached the idea through the adjective "confidential", which was borrowed via French "confidentiel" and then used in English as a calque of that French form. The noun itself was built in English by adding the suffix "-ity" to "confidential", a common pattern for turning adjectives of quality into nouns. Notice what the pieces add up to. "Confident" and "confidential" look like cousins, and they are: both descend from the same Latin verb of trust. The word in your question therefore means, at root, the quality of being entrusted with something, which is exactly what a secret is: information placed in someone else's care.

Synonyms: privacy, secrecy, discretion, trust, confidentialness

Antonyms: publicity, openness, transparency, disclosure, exposure