secretary

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”).

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈsɛk.ɹəˌtə.ɹi/, /ˈsɛk.ɹə.tɹi/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈsɛkɹəˌtɛɹi/, [ˈsɛkɹəˌtʰɛɹi]

• Audio (US)

  (file)

secretary (plural secretaries)

1. (obsolete) Someone entrusted with a secret; a confidant.
2. A person who keeps records, takes notes and handles general clerical work.
3. (often capitalized) The head of a department of government.
4. 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.

5. (US) A type of desk, secretary desk; a secretaire.
6. A secretary bird, a bird of the species Sagittarius serpentarius.

• secretary bird
• secretary desk

• secret
• secretion
• secretive
• secretory

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

1. (transitive) To serve as a secretary of.

• For quotations of use of this term, see Citations:secretary.

• 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