Hidden

Part of speech: adjective

Pronunciation: /ˈhɪd(ə)n/

Definitions

1. Not in plain sight or openly revealed Kept from being discovered or acknowledged Existing in a concealed or obscure manner
2. Concealed from view or kept out of public knowledge ; deliberately kept secret or private ; present but not easily detected or understood
3. Situated out of sight or covered to prevent notice ; withheld from knowledge or attention ; disguised by obscurity or subtlety

Etymology: "Hidden" is simply the past participle of "hide" with the ending "-en" attached to the verb's stem, "hid." That pattern is a little unusual in modern English, where most past participles add "-ed" or "-en" to a stem that stayed the same, so the "-en" here marks the older strong-verb pattern in which the vowel changes from "i" to "i" in the past tense and the participle takes its own ending. The result is a form that looks like it should be a plain adjective, yet it began life as a verb form. Used as an adjective, "hidden" describes something that has been placed out of view, as in a hidden door or a hidden cost. The adjective sense developed naturally from the participle, so the word came to describe the state a thing is in rather than the act of concealing it.

Synonyms: concealed, obscured, covert, covered, masked

Antonyms: visible, revealed, exposed, apparent, open