secondary

B1 Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈsɛkənˌdɛɹi/ UK /ˈsɛkənd(ə)ɹɪ/ See IPA manual

Freq #8722

Meanings

1

adj
less important than the main thing

Money was only a secondary concern for her.
2

adj
happening as a result of, or developing from, something else

He caught a secondary infection while in the hospital.
3

adj
relating to the stage of education between primary school and university

She teaches science at a secondary school.

Thesaurus

Word family

Forms secondariessecondarily

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

secondary school
a school for older children, typically ages 11–18

Adjective + noun

Etymology

From Middle English secundarie, from Latin secundārius (“of the second class or quality”), from secundus (whence the English second) + -ārius (whence the English suffix -ary), equivalent to second + -ary; compare the French secondaire, the Italian secondario, the Occitan secundari, the Portuguese secundario, and the Spanish secundario.

secundarie Middle English secundārius Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities

External links

# secondary

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ˈsɛkənˌdɛɹi/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈsɛkənd(ə)ɹɪ/
**Frequency rank:** 8722

## Meanings
1. less important than the main thing
2. happening as a result of, or developing from, something else
3. relating to the stage of education between primary school and university

## Examples
- Money was only a secondary concern for her.
- He caught a secondary infection while in the hospital.
- She teaches science at a secondary school.

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: secundarie
- Root: secundārius

## Etymology
From Middle English secundarie, from Latin secundārius (“of the second class or quality”), from secundus (whence the English second) + -ārius (whence the English suffix -ary), equivalent to second + -ary; compare the French secondaire, the Italian secondario, the Occitan secundari, the Portuguese secundario, and the Spanish secundario.

## AI Etymology
Secondary is from Middle English secundarie, from Latin secundārius (“of the second class or quality”), from secundus (whence the English second) + -ārius (whence the English suffix -ary), equivalent to second + -ary; compare the French secondaire, the Italian secondario, the Occitan secundari, the Portuguese secundario, and the Spanish secundario. Important forms in the word's history include Middle English secundarie, Latin secundārius. In current use it includes senses such as less important than the main thing and happening as a result of, or developing from, something else.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

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