English
secretary
Secretary comes from Medieval Latin secrētārius ‘one entrusted with secrets’, from Latin secrētus ‘private’, past participle of sēcernō ‘to set apart’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcernōas cernere‘to separate’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEsēcernō‘to separate, set apart’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEsecrētus‘private, secret’
- Medieval Latinc. 600–1500secrētārius‘one entrusted with secrets’
- Englishearliest quotation 1837secretary
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcernōas cernere‘to separate’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEsēcernō‘to separate, set apart’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEsecrētus‘private, secret’
- Medieval Latinc. 600–1500secrētārius‘one entrusted with secrets’
- Englishearliest quotation 1837secretary
Earliest quotation: 1837, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, The Letters Restored: “Do not give yourself any uneasiness about one so…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *krey- ‘to sieve’
certain, crime, criminal, crisis, critic, critique, riddle, criterion, hypocrite, discernible, discreet, endocrine, discernment, rime, incriminate, incrimination, ridder, certitude, criterium, recrimination, excrete, 46 more
through Latin cernō ‘to separate’
discrimination, discretion, discriminate, discern, discrete, excrement, excretion, 10 more
Today it means
noun A person who keeps records, takes notes and handles general clerical work.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin cernō / secretary