hemlig

Swedish

Etymology

From Old Swedish hemeliker, from Old Norse heimiligr, from Middle Low German heimelik, from Proto-West Germanic *haimalīk, from Proto-Germanic *haimaz (“home”). Compare with English homely.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

hemlig (comparative hemligare, superlative hemligast)

1. secret (being or kept hidden)

   Din far var en av hemliga polisens betalade drängar.

   Your father was one of the stooges of the secret police.

Declension

Inflection of hemlig

Indefinite	positive	comparative	superlative1
common singular	hemlig	hemligare	hemligast
neuter singular	hemligt	hemligare	hemligast
plural	hemliga	hemligare	hemligast
masculine plural2	hemlige	hemligare	hemligast
Definite	positive	comparative	superlative
masculine singular3	hemlige	hemligare	hemligaste
all	hemliga	hemligare	hemligaste

¹ The indefinite superlative forms are only used in the predicative.
² Dated or archaic.
³ Only used, optionally, to refer to things whose natural gender is masculine.

Derived terms

• hemlighet
• obehörig befattning med hemlig uppgift

Further reading

• hemlig in Svensk ordbok.
• hemlig in Elof Hellquist, Svensk etymologisk ordbok (1st ed., 1922)