English → Latin
“secret” in Latin
arcānushidden, secret, private, mysterious; intimate, personal, confidential; trustworthy (to keep a secret)sēcernōto put apart, sunder, sever, separate, divide; to disjoin, part, dissociate, separate; to distinguish, discernabdōto hide, conceal, keep secret, cover, suppress, sheathe; to remove, put away, set aside; banish; to betake oneself, go ategōto cover; to clothe; to conceal, hide, protectocculōto cover, hide, concealrecondōto put away, stow away, hoard; to hide or concealabscondōto hide, conceal, cover, shroud; to store, put away, lay upabstrūdōto push or thrust away; conceal, hideinteriorinner, interior; nearer; more secret, unknownlateōto conceal, hide, lie hidden, lurk, skulk; to keep out of sight; to be hidden and in safety
The English word secret itself goes back to Latin cernō, through sēcrētus.
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
secret adj.
arcanus (that one keeps hidden or unrevealed): secretus (that one keeps separate): abditus: tectus: occultus (removed from sight: abditus, hidden by being put away; tectus, by being covered; occultus, veiled): ab arbitris liber (free from eye-witnesses; e.g., locus): reconditus: absconditus: abstrusus (deeply hidden, abstruse; reconditus of things difficult to reveal, absconditus and abstrusus of things altogether unknown): interior (not exposed): latens (that lies in obscurity): clandestinus (that lakes place without the knowledge of another): Tac. (that acts or lakes place without noise or show): furtivus (by stealth). (The words are found in this connection and order.) arcanus et secretus: secretus et arcanus: occultus et abditus: occultus et quasi involutus: reconditus atque abditus: interior et reconditus: abditus et ab arbitris liber (e.g., locus). A secret writing, litterae secretiores (the characters, ciphers, etc): furtivum scriptum (anything written with private characters, etc., Gell.): secret power, tacita vis (that works in silence; Vid: Quint., 3, 5, 9, and 9, 4, 13): occulta vis (that is not observed or known; Vid: Quint., 1, 10, 7): secret counsel, consilia arcana, iutenora (private consultations; different from consilia clandestina, = secret tricks or artifices; Vid: Nep., Hannib., 2, 2): sanctuarium or consistorium priucipis (the place in which the prince held his councils; under the emperors): secret conversations or negotiations, occulta colloquia; clandestina colloquia; with anyone, cum aliquo: to hold secret consultation with anyone, to consult with anyone in secret, cum aliquo colloqui arcano (when the subject of consultation is a secret), or secreto (when the parties meet in private; i. e., so that their deliberations are not overheard), or in occulto (when the parties meet secretly; i. e., so that their meeting is not known): to speak with anyone in secret, sine arbitris loqui cum aliquo: secret arts, artes secretae: in secret (or secretly, as an adverb), arcano (so that that which takes place must remain unknown): secreto (not in the presence of unwelcome persons; Vid: Caes., B.G., 1, 3]; B.C., 1, 19. Nearly = secreto is sine arbitris or arbitris remotis; i. e., without witnesses or persons present, but with this difference, that secreto implies that a person removes himself from witnesses, while sine arbitris merely affirms that no witnesses are present, and arbitris remotis implies that the witnesses have been removed): occulte (in a hidden manner; opposed to aperte; in occulto, in a hidden place; ex occulto, from a hidden place; ex insidiis, from an ambush): tecte (covertly): latenter (in a hidden manner, when we do not perceive how a thing happens): clam (without the knowledge of others; opposed to palam, or ante oculos alicujus, or coram aliquo; ☞ clanculum is comic): obscure (in the dark; of one who shuns the light): tacite: silentio (in silence, without noise; silentio always subjective = without speaking of a matter): furtim (by stealth; of one who desires not to be caught in the act; opposed to palam et libere; Vid: Cic., N.D., 2, 63, 157): furtive (unobservedly; of one who ivould have what he does not to be seen by others). Latin writers also frequently express “in secret” or “secretly” by sub in composition with verbs, to which, however, they sometimes add clam for emphasis; e.g., to carry away in secret or secretly, supportare: to lead away in secret, subducere; clam subducere or abducere; furto subducere (e.g., obsides): to withdraw one’s self in secret or secretly, se subducere: to rejoice in secret or secretly, in sinu gaudere (to laugh in one’s sleeve): to keep anything secret, tacitum teuere, habere; tacite habere (not to speak of it): secum habere (to keep it to one’s self): tacere, reticere (to observe silence): continere (opposed to proferre, enunciare; Vid: Cic., De Or., 1, 47, in.): celare (to conceal what one ought to make known; opposed to palam facere): to keep a thing secret from anyone, celare aliquem aliquid or de re; occulere (opposed to aperire; passive, occuli, opposed to apparere): occultare, occulte ferre (opposed to palam facere): not to keep anything secret, aliquid haud occultum habere or tenere; aliquid non obscure ferre; aliquid proferre, enunciare (to blab): aliquid prae se ferre: keep this secret, I tell you this in secret, hoc tibi soli dictum puta; haec tu tecum habeto; hoc tibi in aurem dixerim; arcano tibi ego hoc dixi; hoc lapidi dixerim (☞ not sub rosa tibi hoc dixerim, which is not Latin): I can keep nothing secret, plenus rimarum sum, hac atque illac perfluo (comic, ap. Ter., Eun., 1, 2, 25): a secret order or command, *nuncius per litteras secretiores or per notas scriptus (written with secret characters): a secret messenger, nuncius clandestinus (a messenger despatched in secret, Caes., B.G., 7, 64): *nuncius de rebus arcanis missus (that has secret commands).
secret s.
res arcana, secreta, occulta, recondita [SYN. in SECRET, adjective]: res silenda (of which one must not speak): mysterium, especially in plur., mysteria (τά μυστήρια, the celebrated Greek mysteries or secrets; Cic. allows himself to use mysterium, general term for a secret only in epistolary style; in De Orat., 3, 17, 64, he qualifies it by tamquam in the words tacitum tamquam mysterium tenent). Secrets, arcana: secreta: occulta: reconriita, plur. [SYN. in SECRET, adjective]: commissa (things intrusted in secret): silenda (concerning which one should be silent; e.g., a secret society; Vid: Liv., 39, 11, med.): secrets of the heart, animi secreta; occulta pectoris: the secrets of a conspiracy, occulta conjurationis: this is no great secret, haec res sane non est recondita; hoc in vulgus emanavit (is no longer a secret): something is a secret to me, aliquid me non praeterit or me non fugit (☞ there is no sure authority for aliquid mihi or me latet; in Cic., Cat., 7, 6, 15, and Cic., Sull., 23, 65, the best Codices have a different reading; Vid: Orelli): to make a secret, no secret of a thing; Vid: To keep, not to keep secret, in SECRET, adjective: I tell you this as a secret [Vid. SECRET, adjective, sub fin.] : they have no secret between each other, nec quidquam secretum alter ab altero habent. To be in the secret, scire
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for secret?
- The usual Latin words for “secret” are arcānus, sēcernō, abdō; also tegō, occulō, recondō. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.
Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.