Secrets

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈsiː.kɹɪts/

Definitions

1. Hidden truths or pieces of knowledge that are deliberately kept from others for personal or strategic reasons
2. Information kept deliberately hidden from others for privacy or protection
3. Knowledge that is intentionally concealed and not shared openly

Etymology: "Secrets" is simply the plural of "secret," and the plural's story is really the story of the singular. The noun came into English in Middle English from Latin "sēcrētum," a neuter noun meaning something set apart or kept separate from others. Its verb form, to secret something away, was made later from the noun. The Latin root behaves exactly as its meaning suggests. "Sēcrētus" was the past participle of "sēcernō," which meant to separate or sunder, built from "cernō," to sift or distinguish. A secret, in its origin, is simply something that has been sifted out and set aside from the common stock of knowledge. English once had its own words for the idea. Old English "dēagol" and "rūn" both meant secret or mystery, and "rūn" survives in the modern word "roun" in older usage. The Latin borrowing displaced "dēagol," and "secret" won out over its native competitors.

Synonyms: mysteries, confidences

Antonyms: truths