Link Centre Dictionary

secondary

se·con·dary

UK/ˈsɛkənd(ə)ɹɪ/ US/ˈsɛkənˌdɛɹi/ fairly common

adjective

1.

of second rank or importance or value; not direct or immediate

  • “the stone will be hauled to a secondary crusher”
  • “a secondary source”
  • “a secondary issue”
  • “secondary streams”
2.

inferior in rank or status

  • “the junior faculty”
  • “a lowly corporal”
  • “petty officialdom”
  • “a subordinate functionary”
3.

depending on or incidental to what is original or primary

  • “a secondary infection”
Similar
4.

not of major importance

  • “played a secondary role in world events”
Similar
5.

noun

1.

the defensive football players who line up behind the linemen

2.

coil such that current is induced in it by passing a current through the primary coil

Origin

From Middle English secundarie, from Latin secundārius (“of the second class or quality”), from secundus (whence the English second) + -ārius (whence the English suffix -ary), equivalent to second + -ary; compare the French secondaire, the Italian secondario, the Occitan secundari, the Portuguese secundario, and the Spanish secundario.

Related words

Broader terms

Part of

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.