different between secret vs obscure

English

Etymology

From Middle English secrette, from Old French secret, from Latin s?cr?tus (“separated, hidden”), from ptp of s?cern? (“separate, to set aside, sunder out”), from Latin cern?, from Proto-Indo-European *krey- . Displaced Old English d?agol (“secret”) and d?agolnes (“a secret”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?si?k??t/
• (weak vowel merger) IPA^(key): /?si?k??t/
• (obsolete) IPA^(key): /?si?k??t/
• Hyphenation: se?cret

Noun

secret (countable and uncountable, plural secrets)

1. (countable) A piece of knowledge that is hidden and intended to be kept hidden. [from late 14th c.]
   • May 1 , 1750, Samuel Johnson, The Rambler No. 13

     To tell our own secrets is generally folly, but that folly is without guilt; to communicate those with which we are intrusted is always treachery
2. The key or principle by which something is made clear; the knack.

   The secret to a long-lasting marriage is compromise.

3. Something not understood or known.
4. (uncountable) Private seclusion.

5. (archaic, in the plural) The genital organs.
6. (historical) A form of steel skullcap.
7. (Christianity, often in the plural) Any prayer spoken inaudibly and not aloud; especially, one of the prayers in the Mass, immediately following the "orate, fratres", said inaudibly by the celebrant.

Synonyms

• dern

Derived terms

Descendants

• Pitcairn-Norfolk: siikret
• ? Cebuano: sekret

Translations

Adjective

secret (comparative more secret, superlative most secret)

1. Being or kept hidden. [from late 14th c.]
2. (obsolete) Withdrawn from general intercourse or notice; in retirement or secrecy; secluded.
   • 1716, Elijah Fenton, an ode to the Right Honourable John Lord Gower

     secret in her sapphire cell
3. (obsolete) Faithful to a secret; not inclined to divulge or betray confidence; secretive, separate, apart.
4. (obsolete) Separate; distinct.
   • 1678, Ralph Cudworth, The True Intellectual System of the Universe

     They suppose two other divine hypostases superior thereunto, which were perfectly secret from matter.

Alternative forms

• secrette (obsolete)

Synonyms

• see Thesaurus:hidden and Thesaurus:covert

Antonyms

• overt

Derived terms

Related terms

• secrete
• secretion

Translations

Verb

secret (third-person singular simple present secrets, present participle (UK) secretting or (US) secreting, simple past and past participle (UK) secretted or (US) secreted)

1. (transitive) To make or keep secret. [from late 16th c.]
   • 1984, Peter Scott Lawrence, Around the mulberry tree, Firefly Books, p. 26

     [...] she would unfold the silk, press it with a smooth wooden block that she'd heated in the oven, and then once more secret it away.

   • 1986, InfoWorld, InfoWorld Media Group, Inc.

     Diskless workstations [...] make it difficult for individuals to copy information [...] onto a diskette and secret it away.

   • 1994, Phyllis Granoff & Koichi Shinohara, Monks and magicians: religious biographies in Asia, Mosaic Press, p. 50

     To prevent the elixir from reaching mankind and thereby upsetting the balance of the universe, two gods secret it away.

2. (transitive) To hide secretly.

   He was so scared for his safety he secreted arms around the house.

Usage notes

• All other dictionaries label this sense 'obsolete', but the citations above and on the citations page demonstrate recent usage as part of the idiom "secret [something] away".
• The present participle and past forms secreting and secreted are liable to confusion with the corresponding heteronymous forms of the similar verb secrete.

Quotations

• For more quotations using this term, see Citations:secret.

Derived terms

• secrete

References

• “†?secret, v.” listed in the Oxford English Dictionary [2^nd Ed.; 1989]
  Tagged as obsolete. Notes: “In the inflected forms it is not easy to distinguish between ?secret and secrete v.”
• “Se"cret (?), v. t.” listed on page 1,301 of Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
  Se"cret (?), v. t. To keep secret. [Obs.] Bacon.

Anagrams

• Cretes, certes, erects, resect, terces

Catalan

Etymology

From Latin secretus.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic) IPA^(key): /s??k??t/
• (Central) IPA^(key): /s??k??t/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /se?k?et/

Adjective

secret (feminine secreta, masculine plural secrets, feminine plural secretes)

1. secret

Derived terms

• secretament
• secretisme

Noun

secret m (plural secrets)

1. secret

Derived terms

• en secret

Further reading

• “secret” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “secret” in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana.
• “secret” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “secret” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /s?.k??/, (dated) /s?.???/

Etymology 1

From Middle French secret, from Old French secret, borrowed from Latin secr?tus.

Adjective

secret (feminine singular secrète, masculine plural secrets, feminine plural secrètes)

1. secret

Derived terms

Etymology 2

From Old French secret, borrowed from Latin secr?tum.

Noun

secret m (plural secrets)

1. secret

Derived terms

• mettre au secret
• ne plus avoir de secret
• secret d'alcôve
• secret d'État
• secret de Polichinelle
• secret industriel

Descendants

• ? Romanian: secret

Anagrams

• certes, crêtes, terces

Further reading

• “secret” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Middle French

Etymology

From Old French secret.

Adjective

secret m (feminine singular secrete, masculine plural secrets, feminine plural secretes)

1. secret

Descendants

• French: secret
  • ? Romanian: secret

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French secret, Latin secretum, secretus. Doublet of s?cret, which was inherited.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /se?kret/

Noun

secret n (plural secrete)

1. secret

Declension

Synonyms

• tain?

Adjective

secret m or n (feminine singular secret?, masculine plural secre?i, feminine and neuter plural secrete)

1. secret, hidden

Declension

Synonyms

• tainic, ascuns

Related terms

• s?cret

English

Etymology

From Middle English obscure, from Old French obscur, from Latin obsc?rus (“dark, dusky, indistinct”), from ob- +? *sc?rus, from Proto-Italic *skoiros, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)?eh?-.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?b?skj??(?)/, /?b?skj??(?)/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?b?skj??/, /?b?skj?/
• Rhymes: -??(?), -??(?), -??(?)
• Hyphenation: ob?scure

Adjective

obscure (comparative obscurer or more obscure, superlative obscurest or most obscure)

1. Dark, faint or indistinct.
   • 1892, Denton Jaques Snider, Inferno, 1, 1-2 (originally by Dante Alighieri)

     I found myself in an obscure wood.

   • His lamp shall be put out in obscure darkness.

2. Hidden, out of sight or inconspicuous.
   • 1606, John Davies of Hereford, Bien Venu

     the obscure corners of the earth

3. Difficult to understand.

4. Not well-known.
5. Unknown or uncertain; unclear.

   The etymological roots of the word "blizzard" are obscure and open to debate.

Usage notes

• The comparative obscurer and superlative obscurest, though formed by valid rules for English, are less common than more obscure and most obscure.

Synonyms

• (dark): cimmerian, dingy; See also Thesaurus:dark
• (faint or indistinct): fuzzy, ill-defined; See also Thesaurus:indistinct
• (hidden, out of sight): occluded, secluded; See also Thesaurus:hidden
• (difficult to understand): fathomless, inscrutable; See also Thesaurus:incomprehensible
• (not well-known): enigmatic, esoteric, mysterious; See also Thesaurus:arcane

Antonyms

• clear

Derived terms

• obscurable
• unobscurable
• obscureness

Related terms

• obscurity
• obscuration

Translations

Verb

obscure (third-person singular simple present obscures, present participle obscuring, simple past and past participle obscured)

1. (transitive) To render obscure; to darken; to make dim; to keep in the dark; to hide; to make less visible, intelligible, legible, glorious, beautiful, or illustrious.
   • c. 1688', William Wake, Preparation for Death

     There is scarce any duty which has been so obscured in the writings of learned men as this.

2. (transitive) To hide, put out of sight etc.
   • 1994, Bill Watterson, Homicidal Psycho Jungle Cat, page 62

     I realized that the purpose of writing is to inflate weak ideas, obscure poor reasoning, and inhibit clarity.

3. (intransitive, obsolete) To conceal oneself; to hide.

   • How! There's bad news. / I must obscure, and hear it.

Synonyms

• (to render obscure; to darken; dim): becloud, bedarken, bedim, bemist

Translations

Further reading

• obscure in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• obscure in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Anagrams

• Cuberos

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?p.sky?/

Adjective

obscure

1. feminine singular of obscur

Anagrams

• courbes

Latin

Adjective

obsc?re

1. vocative masculine singular of obsc?rus

References

• obscure in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• obscure in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• obscure in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré Latin-Français, Hachette