▪ I. † seˈcrete, a. Obs. rare.
[ad. L. sēcrēt-us, pa. pple. of sēcernĕre: see next.]
Separated.
| 1678 Cudworth Intell. Syst. i. iv. 307 Numenius and others of the Platonists speak..supposing Two other Divine Hypostases..which were perfectly Secrete from Matter. Ibid. 582 This so containeth all things, as not being yet secrete and distinct. |
▪ II. secrete, v.1 Phys.
(sɪˈkriːt)
[f. L. sēcrēt-, ppl. stem of sēcernĕre to separate: see secern. Suggested by secretion, from which it might be regarded as derived by back-formation. Cf. F. sécréter (1812 in Hatz.-Darm.), Sp. secretar.]
1. trans. To produce by means of secretion.
| 1707 [see secreted ppl. a.1]. 1728 Chambers Cycl., Animal Secretion is the Act whereby the divers Juices of the Body are secreted or separated from the common Mass of Blood, by means of the Glands. 1800 E. Darwin Phytol. vi. 72 They [sc. glands] secrete, that is, separate or produce, some fluid from the blood; as bile, saliva, urine, milk. 1851 Woodward Mollusca 6 That part of their integument which contains the viscera and secretes the shell, is termed the mantle. 1877 Darwin Forms of Fl. i. 22 The flowers of the Cowslip..secrete plenty of nectar. |
b. transf. and fig.
| 1863 Kingsley Lett. (1878) II. 172 If you won't believe my great new doctrine..that souls secrete their bodies, as snails do shells, you will remain in outer darkness. 1887 Lowell Democracy, etc. 29 Old gold has a civilizing virtue which new gold must grow old to be capable of secreting. |
2. intr. To perform the act of secretion.
| 1872 Huxley Physiol. v. 132 Making the cells secrete just as a nerve when stimulated makes a muscle contract. 1884 Bower & Scott De Bary's Phaner. 100 Those delicate,..umbrella-like scales..secrete on their upper surface. |
▪ III. secrete, v.2
(sɪˈkriːt)
[Alteration of secret v., after L. sēcrētus secret a.]
1. trans. To place in concealment, to hide out of sight, to keep secret.
| 1741 Warburton Div. Legat. iv. iv. II. 109 The common Opinion that the Egyptians invented Hieroglyphics to secrete their profound Wisdom. 1768 Lady M. Coke Jrnl. 11 July (1889) II. 310 Jane was secreted while the Princess was with me. 1843 Lytton Last Bar. iii. ii, How had Sibyll dared to secrete from him this hoard. 1878 Huxley Physiogr. 74 [It] may be secreted for untold ages in subterranean reservoirs. |
b. refl.
| 1764 Harmer Observ. xviii. ii. 79 It appears too that her tent was a much safer place than any other in that encampment in which to secrete himself. 1833 H. Martineau Cinnamon & Pearls i. 5 No shady creek into which a skiff might glide and secrete itself. 1893 Leland Mem. I. 160 A certain French lady..having fallen in love with the said captain, had secreted herself on board the vessel. |
2. To remove secretly, to appropriate (the possessions of another) in a secret manner.
| 1749 Fielding Tom Jones vi. xiii, The secreting of the 500 l. was a matter of very little hazard; whereas the detaining the sixteen guineas was liable to..discovery. 1783 Burke Rep. Aff. India Wks. II. 265 Not the least hint, that he was delivering back to the Company money of their own, which he had secreted from them. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. vi. II. 58 There the bankrupt was taught how he might, without sin, secrete his goods from his creditors. |
▪ IV. seˈcrete, v.3 Hat-making.
[a. F. secréter, f. secret secret n. (in the sense of ‘secret process’).]
trans. To subject to the process of secretage.
| 1839 Ure Dict. Arts 947 After the hairs are properly secreted, they are..shorn off by a machine. 1875 Knight Dict. Mech., Secreting, a process by which the hairs of hare and rabbit skins are rendered fit for felting. |
▪ V. secrete
obs. form of secret n. and a.