secretary English · revision 3125

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=before 1387, Trevisa|origins=la sēcrētum}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /ˈsek.rə.tər.i/, /ˈsek.rə.tri/, US /ˈsek.rə.ter.i/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|secretarie]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) [[bor|la-med|sēcrētārius|t=clerk, notary, scribe; confidential officer, confidant]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) the noun use of an adjective meaning “private, secret”,^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) from [[la|sēcrētum|t=a secret, a hidden thing]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) the neuter of sēcrētus, the source of [[secret]].^(NODE 1998) Late Latin had a similar title, silentiārius “privy councillor”, from silentium “silence”.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A person entrusted with secrets or confidential matters, a confidant: before 1387, in Trevisa's translation of Higden's ''Polychronicon'',^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) a sense now obsolete.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ One whose office is to write letters and keep records for another, originally for a king, is recorded by about 1400,^(Etymonline) probably before 1430 in Lydgate.^(Barnhart 1988) The title of a minister at the head of a government department, as in ''Secretary of State'', is from the 1590s, first in 1599.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) A style of handwriting used in old legal documents was called secretary from the 1570s.^(Etymonline) A writing desk is called a secretary from 1833, after French secrétaire.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) The South African ''secretary bird'' (1786) is said to be named for its crest, which looks like pens stuck behind an ear.^(Etymonline) ''Secretarial'' is from 1801, in Bentham,^(Barnhart 1988) and ''secretariat'' from 1811.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) The verb, “to work as a secretary”, is from 1927.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1387 – a confidant.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1400 – one who writes for another.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1570s – secretary hand.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1599 – a minister of state.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1786 – ''secretary bird''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1801 – ''secretarial''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1833 – a writing desk.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1927 – verb, to work as a secretary.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A person employed to deal with [[correspondence]], keep files and do clerical work for another person or an organization.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # An officer of a society or company who keeps records, takes minutes and answers letters.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # An official at the head of a government [[department]]: ''Secretary of State''.^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ # A [[diplomat]] ranking below an ambassador.^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A writing desk with a top section for books.^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[secretarial]]

+ * [[secretaryship]]

+ * [[subsecretary]]

+ * [[undersecretary]]

+ * [[foreign secretary]]

+ * [[Home Secretary]]

+ * [[press secretary]]

+ * [[secretary bird]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[secret]]

+ * [[secretion]]

+ * [[secretive]]

+ * [[secretory]]

+ * [[secretariat]]

+ * [[secrete]]

+ * [[secretaire]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A separate obsolete ''secretary'', from about 1440, meant a secret chamber or repository.^(OED 1989) The pronunciation with three syllables, /ˈsek.rə.tri/, is especially British.^(MW Collegiate)^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}