secretary

Where does the word "secretary" come from? It comes from Latin secretum, passing through Medieval Latin before entering English (1400s).

Secretary’s story begins in Latin: secretum meant “secret.” 'a secret', from secernere 'to set apart'. By 1300s, the word had taken hold in Medieval Latin as secretarius. A confidential clerk; papal secretaries included the humanist Poggio Bracciolini, who rediscovered Lucretius's poem On the Nature of Things in 1417. It reached English by 1400s as secretary. Thomas Cromwell made Henry VIII's Principal Secretary a powerful office from 1534; the US Secretary of State post was created in 1789. Today, secretary means a person who handles correspondence and records; a government minister.

1. Stage 1 · Latin · classical secretum "secret", 'a secret', from secernere 'to set apart'.
2. Stage 2 · Medieval Latin · 1300s secretarius "confidential officer", a confidential clerk; papal secretaries included the humanist Poggio Bracciolini, who rediscovered Lucretius's poem On the Nature of Things in 1417.
3. Stage 3 · English · 1400s secretary "clerk; minister", Thomas Cromwell made Henry VIII's Principal Secretary a powerful office from 1534; the US Secretary of State post was created in 1789.