1. secondary(n = noun.group) - the defensive football players who line up behind the linemen;
is a kind of formation
is a member of eleven, football team
2. secondary(n = noun.artifact) secondary coil, secondary winding - coil such that current is induced in it by passing a current through the primary coil;
is a kind of coil
is a part of transformer
1. secondary(a = adj.all) - being of second rank or importance or value; not direct or immediate; "the stone will be hauled to a secondary crusher"; "a secondary source"; "a secondary issue"; "secondary streams"
Antonym: primary
2. secondary(s = adj.all) junior-grade, lower-ranking, lowly, petty, subaltern - inferior in rank or status; "the junior faculty"; "a lowly corporal"; "petty officialdom"; "a subordinate functionary"
3. secondary(s = adj.all) - depending on or incidental to what is original or primary; "a secondary infection"
4. secondary(s = adj.all) - not of major importance; "played a secondary role in world events"
5. secondary(s = adj.all) - belonging to a lower class or rank;
1. 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]
2. Acting by deputation or delegated authority; as, the work of secondary hands. [1913 Webster]
3. 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
4. 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]
5. Pertaining to the second joint of the wing of a bird. [1913 Webster]
6. Dependent or consequent upon another disease; as, Bright's disease is often secondary to scarlet fever. [1913 Webster]
1. 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]
2. A secondary circle. [1913 Webster]
3. A secondary quill. [1913 Webster]
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))
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.
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.
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.
secondary amenorrhea, secondary cell, secondary censorship, secondary coil, secondary dentition, secondary diagonal, secondary dysmenorrhea, secondary education, secondary emission, secondary hypertension, secondary modern school, secondary school, secondary sex character, secondary sex characteristic, secondary sexual characteristic, secondary storage, secondary syphilis, secondary winding