different between vague vs secret

English

Etymology

From Middle French vague, from Latin vagus (“uncertain, vague”, literally “wandering, rambling, strolling”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ve??/
• IPA^(key): (Upper Midwest US) /væ?/
• Rhymes: -e??, -æ?

Adjective

vague (comparative vaguer, superlative vaguest)

1. Not clearly expressed; stated in indefinite terms.
   • 2004: Chris Wallace, Character: Profiles in Presidential Courage

     Throughout the first week of his presidency, Dulles and Bissell continued to brief Kennedy on their strategy for Cuba, but the men were vague and their meetings offered little in the way of hard facts.

   inarticulate, Synonym: unclear; see also Thesaurus:incomprehensible

2. Not having a precise meaning.

   Synonyms: ambiguous, equivocal

3. Not clearly defined, grasped, or understood; indistinct; slight.

   Synonyms: ambiguous, equivocal, indistinct, obscure; see also Thesaurus:vague

4. Not clearly felt or sensed; somewhat subconscious.

5. Not thinking or expressing one’s thoughts clearly or precisely.
   • 1962, Philip Larkin, "Toads Revisited"

     Waxed-fleshed out-patients / Still vague from accidents, / And characters in long coats / Deep in the litter-baskets […]

   Synonym: dazed

6. Lacking expression; vacant.

   Synonyms: vacant, vacuous

7. Not sharply outlined; hazy.

   Synonyms: fuzzy, hazy, ill-defined; see also Thesaurus:indistinct

8. Wandering; vagrant; vagabond.
   • 1630, John Hayward, The Life and Raigne of King Edward VI

     The Lord Gray incourag'd his men to set sharply upon the vague villains

   Synonyms: erratic, roaming, unsettled, vagrant, vagabond

Related terms

Translations

Noun

vague (plural vagues)

1. (obsolete) A wandering; a vagary.
2. An indefinite expanse.
   • 1870, James Russell Lowell, The Cathedral

     The gray vague of unsympathizing sea.

Verb

vague (third-person singular simple present vagues, present participle vaguing, simple past and past participle vagued)

1. (archaic) to wander; to roam; to stray.
   • 1603, Philemon Holland (translator), The Philosophie, commonly called, the Morals

     [The soul] doth vague and wander.

2. To become vague or act in a vague manner.

Further reading

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

Catalan

Etymology

From Latin vagus.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic) IPA^(key): /?va.??/
• (Central) IPA^(key): /?ba.??/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /?va.?e/

Adjective

vague (feminine vaga, masculine and feminine plural vagues)

1. vague

Derived terms

• vagament

Further reading

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

French

Etymology 1

From Middle French [Term?], from Old French vague (“movement on the surface of a liquid, ripple”), from Old Norse vágr (“sea”), from Proto-Germanic *w?gaz (“wave, storm”), from Proto-Indo-European *we??- (“to drag, carry”). Cognate with Swedish våg (“wave”), Middle Dutch waeghe, wage (“wave”), Old High German w?ge (“wave”), Old English w?g (“wave, billow, motion, flood”). More at waw, wave.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /va?/

Noun

vague f (plural vagues)

1. wave
   • 2014, Indila, Comme un bateau

Derived terms

• faire des vagues
• vague de chaleur
• vague de froid
• vaguelette
• vaguette

Etymology 2

From Middle French vague, from Latin vagus (“uncertain, vague”, literally “wandering, rambling, strolling”). Possibly a doublet of gai.

Adjective

vague (plural vagues)

1. vague

Noun

vague m (plural vagues)

1. vagueness

   Synonym: distrait

Derived terms

• terrain vague
• vague à l'âme
• vaguement

Further reading

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

Galician

Verb

vague

1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive of vagar

Portuguese

Verb

vague

1. first-person singular (eu) present subjunctive of vagar
2. third-person singular (ele and ela, also used with você and others) present subjunctive of vagar
3. third-person singular (você) affirmative imperative of vagar
4. third-person singular (você) negative imperative of vagar

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?ba?e/, [?ba.??e]

Verb

vague

1. First-person singular (yo) present subjunctive form of vagar.
2. Formal second-person singular (usted) present subjunctive form of vagar.
3. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted^?) present subjunctive form of vagar.

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