“secret” and “secrete”are both derived from a word meaning “to separate, set apart.” (edit to be very clear: I mean "secrete" as in "ooze"!, not merely as a verb form of "secret")

A common Mandarin word for “secret” is 密 mì, and there is also a word for “secrete” 泌 mì (note the shared 必 phonetic component in the characters, indicating they were also pronounced very similarly thousands of years ago; the dots on the left side of 泌 mean water whereas in 密, the phonetic component is enclosed between a roof and a mountain).

I find it fascinating when completely unrelated languages converge on the same subtly interwoven concepts. #linguistics #chinese