sec|ond|ar|y

sec|ond|ar|y
sec|ond|ar|y «SEHK uhn DEHR ee», adjective, noun, plural -ar|ies.
–adj.
1. next after the first in order, place, time, or importance: »

a secondary layer of tissue. Other industries, especially the lighter ones, are called secondary because they employ the products of previous manufacture as their raw materials (Finch and Trewartha).

2. having less importance; not main or chief: »

Reading fast is secondary to reading well.

SYNONYM(S): subordinate, subsidiary, auxiliary, inferior, minor.
3. not original; derived: »

a secondary source of a report.

SYNONYM(S): derivative.
4. Electricity. of or having to do with a coil or circuit in which a current is produced by induction.
5. Chemistry. involving the substitution of two atoms or groups.
6. Geology. produced from another mineral by decay, alteration, or the like.
7. (of suffixes, derivation, and the like) added to or based on a form which is itself a derivative.
–n.
1. a person or thing that is secondary, second in importance, or subordinate.
2. the defensive backfield in football.
3. = secondary accent. (Cf. ↑secondary accent)
4. = secondary coil. (Cf. ↑secondary coil)
5. = secondary feather. (Cf. ↑secondary feather)
6. a heavenly body that revolves around another, especially a satellite of a planet: »

The moon is a secondary that revolves in an orbit around the earth, a primary. The earth, in turn, is a secondary that travels in an orbit around the sun (Eric D. Carlson).

╂[< Latin secundārius of the second class or quality < secundus; see etym. under second1 (Cf. ↑second)]

Useful english dictionary. 2012.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • sec|ond|ar|i|ly — «SEHK uhn DEHR uh lee», adverb. 1. indirectly. 2. subordinately. 3. Obsolete. secondly …   Useful english dictionary

  • sec|ond|ly — «SEHK uhnd lee», adverb. in the second place; second …   Useful english dictionary

  • sec´ond|guess´er — sec|ond guess «SEHK uhnd GEHS», transitive verb. 1. to say afterwards what someone ought to have said; use hindsight to correct. 2. = outguess. (Cf. ↑outguess) –sec´ond|guess´er, noun …   Useful english dictionary

  • sec|ond-guess — «SEHK uhnd GEHS», transitive verb. 1. to say afterwards what someone ought to have said; use hindsight to correct. 2. = outguess. (Cf. ↑outguess) –sec´ond|guess´er, noun …   Useful english dictionary

  • sec´ond-rate´ness — sec|ond rate «SEHK uhnd RAYT», adjective. 1. rated as second class. 2. inferior: »a very second rate performance. SYNONYM(S): middling. –sec´ond rate´ness, noun …   Useful english dictionary

  • sec|ond-rate — «SEHK uhnd RAYT», adjective. 1. rated as second class. 2. inferior: »a very second rate performance. SYNONYM(S): middling. –sec´ond rate´ness, noun …   Useful english dictionary

  • sec|ond-foot — «SEHK uhnd FUT», noun, plural feet. = foot second. (Cf. ↑foot second) Abbr: sec. ft …   Useful english dictionary

  • sec|ond-in-com|mand — «SEHK uhnd ihn kuh MAND», noun, plural sec|onds in com|mand. a person ranking in authority next to the one in charge …   Useful english dictionary

  • sec|ond-de|gree burn — «SEHK uhnd dih GREE», a burn in which blisters are formed …   Useful english dictionary

  • sec|ond-drawer — «SEHK uhnd DRR», adjective. Informal. of lesser importance; secondary; second rate: »the second drawer leaders of the party …   Useful english dictionary

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