second English · revision 1788

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1297|origins=ine-pro *sekw-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈsek.ənd/, ''(verb, transfer)'' /sɪˈkɒnd/ ''(UK)''^(Roach et al. 2011)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The adjective is [[inh|enm|secunde]], [[m|enm|secound]],^(Barnhart 1995)^(MWU 2024) [[bor|fro|second|t=second]], [[m|fro|secont]], and directly from [[la|secundus|t=following, next in order; favourable]],^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002) from the base of [[m|la|sequī|t=to follow]] (see [[sequel]]),^(Barnhart 1995)^(COED 2004)^(AHD) from [[ine-pro|*sekw-ondo-]], a participial form of [[m|ine-pro|*sekw-|t=to follow]].^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2000) Merriam-Webster gives the Anglo-French form [[xno|secund]].^(MW Collegiate) The noun meaning a sixtieth of a minute is Middle English [[m|enm|seconde]], from Old French [[m|fro|seconde]], from [[la-med|secunda]], short for [[m|la-med|secunda pars minūta|t=second diminished part]], the result of the second division of the hour (or degree) by sixty, the first being the “prime minute”.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2000)^(COED 2004) The verb “to support” is from [[frm|seconder]], from [[la|secundāre|t=to assist, favour; of winds, to make favourable]];^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002) the military verb “to transfer temporarily”, pronounced with the stress on the second syllable, is from the French phrase [[m|fr|en second|t=in the second rank]], used of officers.^(COED 2004)^(SOED 2002)^(RHWU)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Next after the first in order, place or time (1297 in the OED, about 1300 in Barnhart).^(OED 1989)^(HTOED)^(Barnhart 1995)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Old English had no ordinal number for two: the sense was expressed by ''ōther'' “other”, which was ambiguous, so the French word was readily accepted in Middle English.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Johnson 1755) From the late 14th century ''second'' also meant “another” (as in Yeats's ''No Second Troy'') and “next in rank, quality or importance”.^(Etymonline) The unit of angular measure dates from 1391, in Chaucer's ''Treatise on the Astrolabe'',^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) and the unit of time from 1588;^(OED 1989)^(HTOED) its loose use for “an instant” is from the early 19th century.^(OED 1989)^(SOED 2002) The noun for a person who is second in authority is early 14th century; as “an assistant”, especially one who attends a principal in a duel or boxing match, it dates from the 1580s, from the verb.^(Etymonline) Weekley notes that a duellist's second originally fought as well.^(Weekley 1921) ''Seconds'' meaning goods below first quality is first recorded in Shakespeare's ''Sonnets'' (about 1600).^(Barnhart 1988) The verb “to support, back up” dates from 1586, in Sidney's ''Arcadia'',^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) and its parliamentary sense, “to endorse a motion”, from the 1590s.^(Etymonline)^(HTOED) ''Second sight'' (1610s), translated from Gaelic according to Weekley, means the sight of events before they happen.^(Etymonline)^(Weekley 1921) ''Second fiddle'' is attested by 1809, ''second hand'' (of a clock) by 1759, and ''second banana'' “second-in-command”, from burlesque, by 1947.^(Etymonline)^(GDoS)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1297 – next after the first.^(OED 1989)^(HTOED)

+ * before 1325 – as a noun, the next after the first.^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * before 1382 – as an adverb, in the second place.^(Barnhart 1995)^(HTOED)

+ * 1391 – a sixtieth of a minute of arc, in Chaucer.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1586 – verb, to support, back up.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1588 – a sixtieth of a minute of time.^(OED 1989)^(HTOED)

+ * 1580s – an assistant in a duel.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1590s – to second a motion.^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1600 – ''seconds'', goods of inferior quality.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1610s – ''second sight''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1759 – ''second hand'' of a clock.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1802 – to transfer an officer temporarily.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1809 – ''second fiddle''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1947 – ''second banana''.^(GDoS)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Coming next after the first in order, place, time or rank; the [[ordinal number|alt=ordinal]] of two.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Another; reminiscent of a famous predecessor: ''a second Wagner''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Alternate: ''every second Thursday''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # [[subordinate|alt=Subordinate]] or [[inferior]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # ''(music)'' Singing or playing the lower part: ''second violin''.^(AHD)^(Chambers 2008)

+ # Of a gear, next above first.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A unit of time equal to one sixtieth of a [[minute]]; the base unit of time in the [[International System of Units]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(COED 2004)

+ # A very short time; a moment.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A unit of angular measure equal to one sixtieth of a minute of arc.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # The one next after the first.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # An attendant of a duellist or boxer.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Black's Law 2004)

+ # ''(usually plural)'' An article of inferior quality.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # ''(informal, plural)'' A second helping of food.^(COED 2004)

+ # ''(music)'' The interval between two adjacent notes of a [[diatonic]] scale.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # The formal support of a motion in a meeting.^(MW Collegiate)^(Black's Law 2004)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To endorse (a motion or nomination) so that it can be discussed or voted on.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To support or [[encourage]]; to back up.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To act as second to (a duellist or boxer).^(AHD)^(MWU 2024)

+ # ''(chiefly Britain)'' To transfer (an officer or official) temporarily to another post.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+

+ ===Adverb===

+ # In the second place; secondly.^(AHD)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[seconder]]

+ * [[second-generation]]

+ * [[second-line]]

+ * [[secondary]]

+ * [[secondly]]

+ * [[second-guess]]

+ * [[second-rate]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[sequel]]

+ * [[sequence]]

+ * [[sect]]

+ * [[persecute]]

+ * [[sue]]

+ * [[minute]]

+ * [[secundine]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Johnson remarked that English had no native ordinal for two, just as Latin and its daughters had none formed from ''duo''.^(Johnson 1755) The verb meaning to transfer temporarily is pronounced differently from the other senses.^(SOED 2002)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}