# secret

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈsiː.kɹɪt/ · frequency rank #1,284

## Definitions
1. A piece of knowledge that is hidden and intended to be kept hidden.
2. The key or principle by which something is made clear; the knack.
3. Something not understood or known.
4. Private seclusion.
5. The genital organs.
6. A form of steel skullcap.
7. Any prayer spoken inaudibly and not aloud; especially, one of the prayers in the Tridentine Mass, immediately following the "orate, fratres", said inaudibly by the celebrant.

## Etymology
The noun is from Middle English secret, from Latin sēcrētum. Doublet of secretum. Displaced Old English dēagolnes (“a secret”).
The verb is from the noun.

## Easily confused with
- **sect** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/secret-vs-sect)
- **secure** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/secret-vs-secure)
- **socket** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/secret-vs-socket)
- **secrets** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/secret-vs-secrets)
- **secured** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/secret-vs-secured)
- **secrete** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/secret-vs-secrete)
- **secretly** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/secret-vs-secretly)
- **secreted** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/secret-vs-secreted)
- **screw** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/screw-vs-secret)
- **sacred** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sacred-vs-secret)
- **seared** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/seared-vs-secret)
- **secrecy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/secrecy-vs-secret)

## Common misspellings (9)
`escret`, `sceret`, `seccret`, `secert`, `secrett`, `secrret`, `secrte`, `sercet`, `ssecret`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/secret