secondary

• POS: Adjective, Noun
• HYPHEN: sec=ond=ar=y

CIDE DICTIONARY

secondary, a. [Cf. F. secondaire, L. secundaire. See Second, a.].

•  Succeeding next in order to the first; of second place, origin, rank, etc.; not primary; subordinate; not of the first order or rate.  [1913 Webster]

  "Wheresoever there is moral right on the one hand, no secondary right can discharge it."  [1913 Webster]

  "Two are the radical differences; the secondary differences are as four."  [1913 Webster]
•  Acting by deputation or delegated authority; as, the work of secondary hands.  [1913 Webster]
•  Possessing some quality, or having been subject to some operation (as substitution), in the second degree; as, a secondary salt, a secondary amine, etc. Cf. primary.  [1913 Webster]

  " A primary amine has the general formula R.NH2; a secondary amine has the general formula R.NH.R, where R and RR.CH2.OH; a secondary alcohol has the general formula R.CHOH.R. Tertiary amines and alcohols have the general formulas R.CR and R.CR, respectively."  [PJC]
•  Subsequent in origin; -- said of minerals produced by alteration or deposition subsequent to the formation of the original rock mass; also of characters of minerals (as secondary cleavage, etc.) developed by pressure or other causes.  [1913 Webster]
•  Pertaining to the second joint of the wing of a bird.  [1913 Webster]
•  Dependent or consequent upon another disease; as, Bright's disease is often secondary to scarlet fever.  [1913 Webster]

Secondary accent. See the Note under Accent, n., 1. -- Secondary age. (Geol.) The Mesozoic age, or age before the Tertiary. See Mesozoic, and Note under Age, n., 8. -- Secondary alcohol (Chem.), any one of a series of alcohols which contain the radical CH.OH united with two hydrocarbon radicals. On oxidation the secondary alcohols form ketones. -- Secondary amputation (Surg.), an amputation for injury, performed after the constitutional effects of the injury have subsided. -- Secondary axis (Opt.), any line which passes through the optical center of a lens but not through the centers of curvature, or, in the case of a mirror, which passes through the center of curvature but not through the center of the mirror. -- Secondary battery. (Elec.) See under Battery, n., 4. -- Secondary circle (Geom. & Astron.), a great circle that passes through the poles of another great circle and is therefore perpendicular to its plane. -- Secondary circuit, Secondary coil (Elec.), a circuit or coil in which a current is produced by the induction of a current in a neighboring circuit or coil called the primary circuit or coil. -- Secondary color, a color formed by mixing any two primary colors in equal proportions. -- Secondary coverts (Zoöl.), the longer coverts which overlie the basal part of the secondary quills of a bird. See Illust. under Bird. -- Secondary crystal (Min.), a crystal derived from one of the primary forms. -- Secondary current (Elec.), a momentary current induced in a closed circuit by a current of electricity passing through the same or a contiguous circuit at the beginning and also at the end of the passage of the primary current. -- Secondary evidence, that which is admitted upon failure to obtain the primary or best evidence. -- Secondary fever (Med.), a fever coming on in a disease after the subsidence of the fever with which the disease began, as the fever which attends the outbreak of the eruption in smallpox. -- Secondary hemorrhage (Med.), hemorrhage occuring from a wounded blood vessel at some considerable time after the original bleeding has ceased. -- Secondary planet. (Astron.) See the Note under Planet. -- Secondary qualities, those qualities of bodies which are not inseparable from them as such, but are dependent for their development and intensity on the organism of the percipient, such as color, taste, odor, etc. -- Secondary quills or Secondary remiges (Zoöl.), the quill feathers arising from the forearm of a bird and forming a row continuous with the primaries; -- called also secondaries. See Illust. of Bird. -- Secondary rocks or Secondary strata (Geol.), those lying between the Primary, or Paleozoic, and Tertiary (see Primary rocks, under Primary); -- later restricted to strata of the Mesozoic age, and at present but little used. -- Secondary syphilis (Med.), the second stage of syphilis, including the period from the first development of constitutional symptoms to the time when the bones and the internal organs become involved. -- Secondary tint, any subdued tint, as gray. -- Secondary union (Surg.), the union of wounds after suppuration; union by the second intention.

Syn. -- Second; second-rate; subordinate; inferior.

secondary, n. 

•  One who occupies a subordinate, inferior, or auxiliary place; a delegate or deputy; one who is second or next to the chief officer; as, the secondary, or undersheriff of the city of London.  [1913 Webster]

  "Old Escalus . . . is thy secondary."  [1913 Webster]
•  A secondary circle.  [1913 Webster]
•  A secondary quill.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

secondary, adj. & n.
--adj.
1 coming after or next below what is primary.
2 derived from or depending on or supplementing what is primary.
3 (of education, a school, etc.) for those who have had primary education, usu. from 11 to 18 years.
4 Electr. a (of a cell or battery) having a reversible chemical reaction and therefore able to store energy. b denoting a device using electromagnetic induction, esp. a transformer.
--n. (pl. -ies)
1 a secondary thing.
2 a secondary device or current.

Idiom

secondary colour the result of mixing two primary colours. secondary feather a feather growing from the second joint of a bird's wing. secondary picketing the picketing of premises of a firm not otherwise involved in the dispute in question. secondary planet a satellite of a planet (cf. primary planet). secondary sexual characteristics those distinctive of one sex but not directly related to reproduction.

Derivative

secondarily adv. secondariness n.

Etymology

ME f. L secundarius (as SECOND(1))

THESAURUS

secondary

Janus-like, Maxwell triangle, Munsell scale, accessory, accident, accidental, addendum, addition, additional, adjunct, adscititious, adventitious, advocate, agent, alter ego, alternate, alternative, ambidextrous, amicus curiae, analogy, ancillary, appendage, appurtenance, appurtenant, ascititious, assistant, attorney, auxiliary, backup, backup man, bifacial, bifold, biform, bilateral, binary, binate, biparous, bivalent, borrowed, casual, champion, change, changeling, chromatic circle, chromatic spectrum, chromaticity diagram, circumstantial, cog, collateral, color circle, color cycle, color index, color mixture curve, color solid, color spectrum, color system, color triangle, coming, common, commonality, commonalty, comparison, complementary color, conduplicate, consequent, contingency, contingent, copied, copy, counterfeit, covert, creature, demeaning, demitint, dependent, deputy, derivational, derivative, derived, dinky, disadvantaged, disomatous, double, double-faced, dual, dummy, duple, duplex, duplicate, employee, equal, equivalent, ersatz, eventual, exchange, executive officer, exponent, extra, fake, feather, feathers, figurehead, fill-in, final, flunky, follower, fortuitous, full color, fundamental colors, geminate, geminated, ghost, ghostwriter, hackle, half tint, halftone, happenstance, helper, hoi polloi, hue cycle, humble, imitated, imitation, in the shade, incidental, indirect, inessential, inferior, infra dig, insignificant, junior, last, less, lesser, lieutenant, lightweight, locum, locum tenens, low, low-priority, lower, lower class, lower orders, lowly, mail, makeshift, marginal, masses, mere chance, metamer, metaphor, metonymy, minor, mock, modest, monochrome, next best thing, no great shakes, nonessential, not-self, of no account, of no consequence, of no matter, of no significance, ordinary, other, paranymph, pawn, personnel, phony, pinch, pinch hitter, pleader, plumage, poor relation, primary, primary color, procurator, provisional, proxy, pure color, relief, replacement, representative, reserve, reserves, resultant, right-hand man, ringer, scrub, second, second fiddle, second in command, second rank, second string, secondary color, secondhand, servant, servile, sign, small, small-fry, small-time, solar spectrum, spare, spares, spectral color, spectrum, spectrum color, speculum, stand-in, stopgap, sub, subaltern, subject, subordinate, subsequent, subservient, subsidiary, substituent, substitute, substitution, succedaneum, superadded, superaddition, superfluous, superseder, supervenient, supplanter, supplement, supplemental, supplementary, supporting, supportive, surrogate, symbol, synecdoche, temporary, tentative, tertiary, tertiary color, third rank, third string, third stringer, token, tributary, twin, twinned, two-faced, two-level, two-ply, two-sided, two-story, twofold, ultimate, under, underling, underprivileged, understrapper, understudy, unessential, unimportant, unoriginal, utility, utility man, utility player, vicar, vicar general, vicarious, vice, vice-president, vice-regent, vicegerent, vulgar, yes-man

ROGET THESAURUS

secondary

Imperfection

N imperfection, imperfectness, deficiency, inadequacy, peccancy, immaturity, fault, defect, weak point, screw loose, flaw, gap, twist, taint, attainder, bar sinister, hole in one's coat, blemish, weakness, half blood, shortcoming, drawback, seamy side, mediocrity, no great shakes, no great catch, not much to boast of, one-horse shay, imperfect, not perfect, deficient, defective, faulty, unsound, tainted, out of order, out of tune, cracked, leaky, sprung, warped, lame, injured, peccant, frail, inadequate, crude, incomplete, found wanting, below par, short-handed, below its full strength, under its full strength, below its full complement, indifferent, middling, ordinary, mediocre, average, so-so, coucicouci, milk and water, tolerable, fair, passable, pretty well, pretty good, rather good, moderately good, good, good enough, well enough, adequate, decent, not bad, not amiss, inobjectionable, unobjectionable, admissible, bearable, only better than nothing, secondary, inferior, second-rate, second-best, one-horse, almost, to a limited extent, rather, pretty, moderately, passing, only, considering, all things considered, enough, surgit amari aliquid.

Inferiority

N inferiority, minority, subordinacy, shortcoming, deficiency, minimum, smallness, imperfection, lower quality, lower worth, commonalty, inferior, smaller, small, minor, less, lesser, deficient, minus, lower, subordinate, secondary, secondrate, sub, subaltern, thrown into the shade, weighed in the balance and found wanting, not fit to hold a candle to, can't hold a candle to, least, smallest &c (little) (small), lowest, diminished, reduced, unimportant, less, under the mark, below the mark, below par, at the bottom of the scale, at a low ebb, at a disadvantage, short of, under.

Deputy

N deputy, substitute, vice, proxy, locum tenens, badli, delegate, representative, next friend, surrogate, secondary, regent, viceregent, vizier, minister, vicar, premier, chancellor, prefect, provost, warden, lieutenant, archon, consul, proconsul, viceroy, commissioner, Tsung-li Yamen, Wai Wu Pu, plenipotentiary, alter ego, team, eight, eleven, champion, acting, vice, vice regal, accredited to, in behalf of.