adj.
not known or seen or not meant to be known or seen by others.
▸fond of having or keeping secrets; secretive.
n.
- something kept or meant to be kept secret.
▸something not properly understood; a mystery:
the secrets of the universe.
- a way of achieving something, especially one that is not commonly known:
the secret of a happy marriage is compromise.
- a prayer said quietly by the priest after the offertory in a Roman Catholic Mass.
Derivative
Etymology
ME: from OFr., from L. secretus ‘separate, set apart’, from secernere, from se- ‘apart’ + cernere ‘sift’.