secretary
See also: Secretary
English
Etymology
From Medieval Latin secretarius (“one entrusted with secrets”), from Latin secretus (“private, secret”), past participle of secernere (“to separate, set apart”), from se- (“apart”) + cernere (“to separate”).
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /ˈsɛk.ɹəˌtə.ɹi/, /ˈsɛk.ɹə.tɹi/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈsɛkɹəˌtɛɹi/, [ˈsɛkɹəˌtʰɛɹi]
Audio (US) (file)
Noun
secretary (plural secretaries)
- (obsolete) Someone entrusted with a secret; a confidant.
- 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.
- Ban Ki-Moon was a secretary general of the United Nations.
- (US) A type of desk, secretary desk; a secretaire.
- A secretary bird, a bird of the species Sagittarius serpentarius.
Derived terms
- secretary bird
- secretary desk
Translations
person keeping records and handling clerical work
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head of a department of government
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leading or managerial position in certain organizations
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type of desk
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sagittarius serpentarius
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
Translations to be checked
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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 of use of this term, see Citations:secretary.
Further reading
- secretary in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
- secretary in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
- secretary at OneLook Dictionary Search
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