SECRETARY

secretary, writing table, escritoire, secretaire

(noun) a desk used for writing

repository, secretary

(noun) a person to whom a secret is entrusted

secretary, secretarial assistant

(noun) an assistant who handles correspondence and clerical work for a boss or an organization

secretary

(noun) a person who is head of an administrative department of government

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

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.

(US) A type of desk, secretary desk; a secretaire.

A secretary bird, a bird of the species Sagittarius serpentarius.

Verb

secretary (third-person singular simple present secretaries, present participle secretarying, simple past and past participle secretaried)

(transitive) To serve as a secretary of.

Etymology

Named by Lord Baltimore after his secretary.

Proper noun

Secretary

A town in Maryland.

Source: Wiktionary


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



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Word of the Day

3 December 2024

PROOF

(adjective) (used in combination or as a suffix) able to withstand; “temptation-proof”; “childproof locks”


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Coffee Trivia

Decaffeinated coffee is not caffeine-free. Studies from the National Institute of Health (US) have shown that virtually all decaf coffee types contain caffeine. A 236-ml (8-oz) cup of decaf coffee contains up to 7 mg of caffeine, whereas a regular cup provided 70-140 mg.

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