secretry.html - See: IN SECRET, OPEN SECRET.

secretry.html - 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.

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.

secretly adv. [ME f. OF f. L secretus (adj.) separate, set apart f. secernere secret- (as SE-, cernere sift)]

secretry.html - n.
an escritoire. [F (as SECRETARY)]

secretry.html - n.
1 a permanent administrative office or department, esp. a governmental one.
2 its members or premises.
3 the office of secretary. [F secr

tariat f. med.L secretariatus (as SECRETARY)]

secretry.html - n.
(pl. -ies)
1 a person employed by an individual or in an office etc. to assist with correspondence, keep records, make appointments, etc.
2 an official appointed by a society etc. to conduct its correspondence, keep its records, etc.
3 (in the UK) the principal assistant of a government minister, ambassador, etc.

secretary bird a long-legged snake-eating African bird, Sagittarius serpentarius, with a crest likened to a quill pen stuck over a writer's ear. Secretary-General the principal administrator of an organization. Secretary of State 1 (in the UK) the head of a major government department.
2 (in the US) the chief government official responsible for foreign affairs.

secretarial adj. secretaryship n. [ME f. LL secretarius (as SECRET)]

secretry.html - v.tr.
Biol. (of a cell, organ, etc.) produce by secretion.

secretor n. secretory adj. [back-form. f. SECRETION]