state secret en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- (US) audio
Meanings
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Information which pertains to the affairs of a country, access to which is restricted by the government.
[T]here are another set of rascals prowling about the docks, chiefly at dusk, who make strange motions to you, and beckon you to one side, as if they had some state secret to disclose, intimately connected with the weal of the commonwealth.
1849, Herman Melville, chapter 40, in Redburn: His First Voyage. […], 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], →OCLC:Zimbabwean prosecutors have charged four men including top figures from President Robert Mugabe's party with selling state secrets to foreign agents.
2005 January 1, Stella Mapenzauswa, “Four face spy charges as Zimbabwe powerplay heats up”, in Sydney Morning Herald, Australia, retrieved 21 Sep 2010:"Your brother," he continued, "in his travels on the Continent stumbled by chance upon a State secret of international importance."
1905, E. Phillips Oppenheim, chapter 5, in A Maker of History:I'll tell you one great State secret: the Queen, sensible how much she was governed by the late Ministry, runs a little into t'other extreme, and is jealous in that point.
1711, The Journal to Stella, Jonathan Swift, ch. 2: Letter 16:
- (broadly, humorous) Personal information which someone would like to keep private, even if ultimately not important.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| state secrets | Number=Plur | lexicographic | |
| State secret | alternative | lexicographic |
Translations (33)
cs státní tajemství (restricted information of national importance) · uk держтаємни́ця (restricted information of national importance) · fi valtiosalaisuus (restricted information of national importance) · ro secret de stat (restricted information of national importance) · udm кун лушкес (restricted information of national importance) · it segreto di Stato (restricted information of national importance) · et riigisaladus (restricted information of national importance) · uk держа́вна таємни́ця (restricted information of national importance) · mk државна тајна (restricted information of national importance) · sh државна тајна (restricted information of national importance) · sl državna skrivnost (restricted information of national importance) · cmn 國家機密 /国家机密 (restricted information of national importance) · is ríkisleyndarmál (restricted information of national importance) · de Staatsgeheimnis (restricted information of national importance) · da statshemmelighed (restricted information of national importance) · fr secret d'État (restricted information of national importance) · pl tajemnica państwowa (restricted information of national importance) · sk štátne tajomstvo (restricted information of national importance) · az dövlət sirri (restricted information of national importance) · sv statshemlighet (restricted information of national importance) · be дзяржа́ўная таямні́ца (restricted information of national importance) · ru госуда́рственная та́йна (restricted information of national importance) · ja 国家機密 (restricted information of national importance) · hu államtitok (restricted information of national importance) · ar سِرّ دَوْلَة (restricted information of national importance) · tr devlet sırrı (restricted information of national importance) · sh državna tajna (restricted information of national importance) · nl staatsgeheim (restricted information of national importance) · pt segredo de estado (restricted information of national importance) · ko 국가기밀 (restricted information of national importance) · ru госта́йна (restricted information of national importance) · bg държа́вна та́йна (restricted information of national importance) · tk döwlet syry (restricted information of national importance)