secrecy

Etymology

Alteration (on model of primacy, etc) of Late Middle English secretee, from Old French secré.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsiːkɹəsi/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

secrecy (countable and uncountable, plural secrecies)

1. Concealment; the condition of being secret or hidden.
   • 1915, Emerson Hough, The Purchase Price, chapterII:

     Carried somehow, somewhither, for some reason, on these surging floods, were these travelers, […]. Even such a boat as the Mount Vernon offered a total deck space so cramped as to leave secrecy or privacy well out of the question, even had the motley and democratic assemblage of passengers been disposed to accord either.

2. The habit of keeping secrets.