Etymology Map
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Secretary

3 stages from Latin to English.

Today it means a person who handles correspondence and records; a government minister

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

1
Stage 1 of 3
secretum
Latin · classical
"secret"
'a secret', from secernere 'to set apart'
2
Stage 2 of 3
secretarius
Medieval Latin · 1300s
"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 of 3
secretary
English · 1400s
"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
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Read the full story

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.