SECRETARIES
Noun
secretaries
plural of secretary
Verb
secretaries
Third-person singular simple present indicative form of secretary
Anagrams
• secretaires
Source: Wiktionary
SECRETARY
Sec"re*ta*ry, n.; pl. Secretaries. Etym: [F. secrétaire (cf. Pr.
secretari, Sp. & Pg. secretario, It. secretario, segretario) LL.
secretarius, originally, a confidant, one intrusted with secrets,
from L. secretum a secret. See Secret, a. & n.]
1. One who keeps, or is intrusted with, secrets. [R.]
2. A person employed to write orders, letters, dispatches, public or
private papers, records, and the like; an official scribe,
amanuensis, or writer; one who attends to correspondence, and
transacts other business, for an association, a public body, or an
individual.
That which is most of all profitable is acquaintance with the
secretaries, and employed men of ambassadors. Bacon.
3. An officer of state whose business is to superintend and manage
the affairs of a particular department of government, and who is
usually a member of the cabinet or advisory council of the chief
executive; as, the secretary of state, who conducts the
correspondence and attends to the relations of a government with
foreign courts; the secretary of the treasury, who manages the
department of finance; the secretary of war, etc.
4. A piece of furniture, with conveniences for writing and for the
arrangement of papers; an escritoire.
5. (Zoöl.)
Definition: The secretary bird. Secretary Bird. Etym: [So called in
allusion to the tufts of feathers at the back of its head, which were
fancifully thought to resemble pens stuck behind the ear.] (Zoöl.) A
large long-legged raptorial bird (Gypogeranus serpentarius), native
of South Africa, but now naturalized in the West Indies and some
other tropical countries. It has a powerful hooked beak, a crest of
long feathers, and a long tail. It feeds upon reptiles of various
kinds, and is much prized on account of its habit of killing and
devouring snakes of all kinds. Called also serpent eater.
Syn.
– See the Note under Clerk, n., 4.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition