Secrete Definition

sĭ-krēt

secreted, secretes, secreting

verb

secreted, secretes, secreting

To form and release (a specified secretion), as a gland does.

Webster's New World

To put or keep in a secret place; hide; conceal.

Webster's New World

To steal secretly; filch.

American Heritage

Figurative uses.

Wiktionary

With away, to steal.

The royal jewels were secreted away in the middle of the night, sub rosa.

Wiktionary

Synonyms:

Antonyms:

adjective

(obsolete, rare) Separated.

Wiktionary

Origin of Secrete

First directly attested in 1728; attested as the past-participial adjective secreted in 1707: from Latin sÄ“crÄ“t-, perfect passive participial stem of sÄ“cernō (“I separate"); reinforced by back-formation from secretion; compare secern; cognate with the French sécréter and the Spanish secretar.

From Wiktionary
First attested in 1678: from the Latin participle sÄ“crÄ“tus (“[having been] separated").

From Wiktionary
Probably alteration of obsolete secret from secret

From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
Alteration of verb sense of secret

From Wiktionary
Back-formation from secretion

From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition