secondment

C2+ Topic:Work & Careers

US /sɪˈkɑndmənt/ UK /sɪˈkɒndmənt/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
the temporary transfer of an employee to another post or organization

She spent a year on secondment to the ministry's policy unit.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · the temporary transfer of... transfer assignment detachment posting

Word family

Related forms secondsecondee

Etymology

Early 20th century, from the verb 'second' (in the sense 'transfer temporarily'), from French 'en second' ('in the second rank'), ultimately from Latin 'secundus' ('following, second'), + '-ment'.

secundus Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Work & Careers Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# secondment

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

## Meanings
1. the temporary transfer of an employee to another post or organization

## Examples
- She spent a year on secondment to the ministry's policy unit.

## Synonyms
- transfer
- assignment
- detachment
- posting

## Related Forms
- second
- secondee

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: secundus

## Etymology
Early 20th century, from the verb 'second' (in the sense 'transfer temporarily'), from French 'en second' ('in the second rank'), ultimately from Latin 'secundus' ('following, second'), + '-ment'.

## AI Etymology
Secondment is first described as early 20th century, from the verb 'second' (in the sense 'transfer temporarily'), from French 'en second' ('in the second rank'), ultimately from Latin 'secundus' ('following, second'), + '-ment'. The historical chain includes Latin secundus. Older glosses in the chain include "second", "transfer temporarily", "en second", and "in the second rank", which help explain the semantic range of the modern word. Morphologically, secondment is best read as compound and borrowing, yielding an English noun shaped by both form history and later usage. In current English it functions as a noun, with the sense "the temporary transfer of an employee to another post or organization". related forms include second and secondee. The result is an English noun whose etymology preserves the older forms while supporting the word's specialized modern meaning.

## Topics
- Work & Careers
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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