English Online Dictionary. What means secretary? What does secretary mean?
English
Alternative forms
- secretarie (obsolete)
Etymology
From Medieval Latin secrētārius (“one entrusted with secrets”), from Latin secrētus (“private, secret”), past participle of secernere (“to separate, set apart”), from se- (“apart”) + cernere (“to separate”).
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /ˈsɛk.ɹə.tə.ɹi/, /ˈsɛk.ɹə.tɹi/
- (General American) enPR: sĕk'rətĕrē, IPA(key): /ˈsɛk.(ɹ)əˌtɛɹ.i/, [ˈsɛk.(ɹ)əˌtʰɛɹ.i]
Noun
secretary (plural secretaries)
- (obsolete) Someone entrusted with a secret; a confidant.
- (obsolete) Someone employed as a scribe for personal correspondence.
- A person who keeps records, takes notes and handles general clerical work.
- (often capitalized) The head of a department of government.
- A managerial or leading position in certain non-profit organizations, such as political parties, trade unions, international organizations.
- (US) A type of desk, secretary desk; a secretaire.
- A secretary bird, a bird of the species Sagittarius serpentarius.
Derived terms
Related terms
- secret
- secretion
- secretive
- secretory
- secretariat
Descendants
- → Punjabi: ਸਕੱਤਰ (sakattar)
Translations
Verb
secretary (third-person singular simple present secretaries, present participle secretarying, simple past and past participle secretaried)
- (transitive) To serve as a secretary of.
Quotations
- For quotations using this term, see Citations:secretary.
Further reading
- “secretary”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “secretary”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
- “secretary”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.