ancillary
English
WOTD – 31 December 2009
Etymology
From Latin ancillāris (“ancillary; relating to maids”), from ancilla (“maid”).
Pronunciation
Adjective
ancillary (comparative more ancillary, superlative most ancillary)
- 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, , page 4:
- The cafeteria is primarily used by students and staff (academic, administrative, and ancillary).
Derived terms
Translations
subordinate, secondary, auxiliary, accessory
|
Noun
ancillary (plural ancillaries)
- 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.
- (archaic) An auxiliary.
Translations
thing
person
|
References
- “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.
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.