sec

C2+ Topic:Time

US /sɛk/ UK /sɛk/ See IPA manual

Minimal pairs

Sounds like check /tʃ/ vs /s/ Sounds like sake /ɛ/ vs /eɪ/

Meanings

1

noun
a second of time (informal); of wine, dry

Hang on just a sec while I find the right key.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a second of time... second moment instant dry

Opposites

sweet

Word family

Related forms seconddemi-sec

Etymology

In the time sense, an informal shortening of 'second'; in the wine sense, from French 'sec' ('dry'), from Latin 'siccus' ('dry').

siccus Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Time Register & Style

External links

# sec

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /sɛk/
**IPA (UK):** /sɛk/

## Meanings
1. a second of time (informal); of wine, dry

## Examples
- Hang on just a sec while I find the right key.

## Synonyms
- second
- moment
- instant
- dry

## Antonyms
- sweet

## Related Forms
- second
- demi-sec

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: siccus

## Etymology
In the time sense, an informal shortening of 'second'; in the wine sense, from French 'sec' ('dry'), from Latin 'siccus' ('dry').

## AI Etymology
Sec is from in the time sense, an informal shortening of 'second'; in the wine sense, from French 'sec' ('dry'), from Latin 'siccus' ('dry'). The historical chain includes Latin siccus. Older glosses in the chain include "second", "sec", "dry", and "siccus", which help explain the semantic range of the modern word. Morphologically, sec is best read as borrowing, yielding an English noun and adjective shaped by both form history and later usage. In current English it functions as a noun and adjective, with the sense "a second of time (informal); of wine, dry". related forms include second and demi-sec. The result is an English noun and adjective whose etymology preserves the older forms while supporting the word's specialized modern meaning.

## Topics
- Time
- Register & Style

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sec

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