767: secret and secretion Jan 13, 2017

The words 'secretion' and 'secret' may look similar, but do not necessarily convey similar ideas (unless you've got a very specific secret). Both of these words ultimately derive from the Latin, 'se-' meaning ‘apart’ and 'cernere' meaning ‘sift’. The idea of sifting apart is perhaps rather vague, and has led to a a number of other derivatives. Still, notably while other words like 'certain', and secede, and have some commonalities, and under 'secret' you may be referred to in some dictionaries, they are not especially closely related.