Meanings
plural secrecies
- countableuncountableConcealment; the condition of being secret or hidden.
I was sworn to secrecy.
2 more examples
Carried somehow, somewhither, for some reason, on these surging floods, were these travelers,[…]. Even such a boat as the Mount Vernon offered a total deck space so cramped as to leave secrecy or privacy well out of the question, even had the motley and democratic assemblage of passengers been disposed to accord either.
1910, Emerson Hough, chapter II, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLCI suspect that this large and complex military railway system, shrouded in official secrecy for most of its operational life, remains unknown to many people.
2022 January 12, Chris Hegg, “The secret railway in the woods”, in RAIL, number 948, page 34 - countableuncountableThe habit of keeping secrets.
Synonyms & antonyms
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Old Frenchsecré
- Middle Englishsecretee
- Englishsecrecy
An alteration (on the model of primacy, etc.) of Late Middle English secretee, from Old French secré.
More words from Middle English, Old French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans geheimhouding
- geheimhoudingconcealment
Arabic سِرِّيَّة
- سِرِّيَّة (sirriyya)concealment
Bulgarian тайна, потайност
- тайна (tajna)concealment
- потайност (potajnost)habit of keeping secrets
Catalan secretisme
- secretismehabit of keeping secrets
Chinese 秘密
- 秘密 (mìmì)concealment
Czech utajení
- utajeníconcealment
Dutch geheimhouding
- geheimhoudingconcealment
French secret, secrétisme
- secretconcealment
- secrétismehabit of keeping secrets
German Geheimhaltung, Geheimniskrämerei
- Geheimhaltungconcealment
- Geheimniskrämereihabit of keeping secrets
- Geheimnistuereihabit of keeping secrets
Greek μυστικότητα, εχεμύθεια
- μυστικότητα (mystikótita)concealment
- εχεμύθεια (echemýtheia)concealment
Hindi गोपनीयता
- गोपनीयता (gopnīytā)concealment
Indonesian kerahasiaan
- kerahasiaanconcealment
Irish rúndacht
- rúndachtconcealment
Italian segretezza, riserbo
- segretezzaconcealment
- riserboconcealment
Japanese 秘密
- 秘密 (himitsu)concealment
Korean 기밀
- 기밀 (gimil)concealment
Norwegian Bokmål hemmelighet
- hemmelighetconcealment
Portuguese sigilo, secretismo
- sigiloconcealment
- secretismohabit of keeping secrets
Romanian secretism, secretețe
- secretismconcealment
- secretețeconcealment
Russian засекреченность
- засекреченность (zasekrečennostʹ)concealment
Spanish secreto, sigilo
- secretoconcealment
- sigiloconcealment
- secretividadconcealment
- secretismohabit of keeping secrets
Swahili siri
- siriconcealment
Turkish gizli tutma, sır tutma
- gizli tutmaconcealment
- sır tutmaconcealment
- mahremiyetconcealment
- iphamconcealment
Cite this entry
secrecy. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/secrecy
“secrecy.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/secrecy. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “secrecy,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/secrecy.
Source: secrecy on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.