机密

• Pinyin: jī mì
• Hanzi breakdown: 机 = 木 + 几 (wood + small frame, originally a loom's key mechanism — also 机要, the secret workings of power); 密 = 宓 + 山 (sealed/quiet + mountain, something hidden and sealed away, secret)

Meaning

Classified; secret; highly confidential. Refers to information, documents, or matters that must be kept strictly secret, especially for reasons of national security, commercial sensitivity, or governmental confidentiality.

机密 is a formal, serious term for classified or highly confidential information. In Chinese classification systems, documents are graded: 绝密 (top secret) > 机密 (secret) > 秘密 (confidential). Common phrases: 国家机密 (state secrets), 泄露机密 (to leak classified information), 机密文件 (classified document), 商业机密 (trade secret), 军事机密 (military secret). Leaking 机密 can carry severe criminal penalties.

Examples

1. 涉密人员在离开保密工作岗位后，依法须在规定年限内继续履行保密义务，不得以任何方式透露或泄露在职期间所接触到的国家机密。 After leaving a classified position, cleared personnel are legally required to continue honoring confidentiality obligations for the specified number of years and must not disclose any state secrets they had access to while employed.
2. 间谍案件的庭审通常不对外公开，以防止审判过程中涉及的机密信息通过媒体报道渠道扩散，从而损害国家安全利益。 Trials in espionage cases are often not open to the public, to prevent classified information from spreading through media coverage and harming national security interests.
3. 企业竞争日趋激烈，商业机密的保护已成为知识产权管理的重要组成部分，许多公司专门制定了严格的信息安全制度以防范内部泄密风险。 As business competition grows more intense, protecting trade secrets has become a key part of intellectual property management, and many companies have put strict information security rules in place to reduce the risk of internal leaks.

Usage Guide

Context: government, military, law, business, security

Tone: neutral

Do Say

• 保护国家机密是国家安全工作的核心，涉密人员必须严格审查、培训并签署保密承诺。(Protecting state secrets is central to national security work, and anyone in a classified post must undergo strict screening, training, and a confidentiality pledge.)
• 数字办公普及后，商业机密泄露风险上升，企业需用加密、权限控制和监测构建防线。(As digital office work spreads, the risk of leaking commercial secrets rises, so companies must build defenses with encryption, access control, and monitoring.)

Don't Say

• 机密 for personal privacy or general private matters — use 隐私 for personal privacy or 私密 for personal/intimate matters; 机密 specifically refers to classified or highly sensitive information with official or institutional significance

Origin & History

机 (key mechanism/critical/secret) + 密 (secret/dense/close) — 机 in classical Chinese could mean 'pivot/mechanism' or 'secret workings'; 密 means secret, tight, and close; together: the critical secret workings of state or organisation

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal