ancillary

From Latin ancillāris (“ancillary; relating to maids”), from ancilla (“maid”).

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈæns.əˌlɛɹ.iː/
• (UK) IPA^(key): /ænˈsɪl.ə.ɹi/

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• Rhymes: -ɪləɹi

ancillary (comparative more ancillary, superlative most ancillary)

1. Subordinate; secondary; auxiliary.

   Synonym: accessory

   • 1836, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nature, Chapter 3:

     […] how easily he took all things along with him,—the persons, the opinions, and the day, and nature became ancillary to a man.

   • 1898, John Wesley Powell, “Chapter 7”, in Truth and Error:

     [E]very organ of the body, whatever function it may perform, must also perform the other four functions in an ancillary manner.

   • 2019, Li Huang, James Lambert, “Another Arrow for the Quiver: A New Methodology for Multilingual Researchers”, in Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, →DOI, page 4:

     The cafeteria is primarily used by students and staff (academic, administrative, and ancillary).

ancillary (plural ancillaries)

1. Something that serves an ancillary function, such as an easel for a painter.
   • 1950 November, “Mixed-Traffic Diesel-Electric Locomotives for Ireland”, in Railway Magazine, page 781:

     Auxiliaries and ancillaries are comprehensive, and include a Westinghouse motor-driven recriprocating compressor used for locomotive braking and general service air, two rotary exhauster sets for train brakes when hauling passenger or fitted freight trains, and an oil-fired train heating boiler.

2. (archaic) An auxiliary.

• “ancillary”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “ancillary”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “ancillary”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

• Carlylian, cranially