adj. & n.
--adj.
1. kept or meant to be kept private, unknown, or hidden from all or all but a few.
2 acting or operating secretly.
3 fond of, prone to, or able to preserve secrecy.
4 (of a place) hidden, completely secluded.
--n.
1. a thing kept or meant to be kept secret.
2 a thing known only to a few.
3 a mystery.
4 a valid but not commonly known or recognized method of achieving or maintaining something (what's their secret?; correct breathing is the secret of good health).
5 RC Ch. a prayer concluding the offertory of the mass.
Phrases and idioms:
in secret secretly. in (or in on) the secret among the number of those who know it. keep a secret not reveal it. secret agent a spy acting for a country. secret ballot a ballot in which votes are cast in secret. secret police a police force operating in secret for political purposes. secret service a government department concerned with espionage. secret society a society whose members are sworn to secrecy about it.
Derivatives:
secretly adv.
Etymology: ME f. OF f. L secretus (adj.) separate, set apart f. secernere secret- (as SE-, cernere sift)