The Meaning of SECRETARY – SECRETARY in a Sentence (Illustrated Examples)

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Here is a transcript of the video: “The Origin & Meaning of SECRETARY”

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Slide 3:
The origin of SECRETARY

The word SECRETARY is derived from the Latin secretus meaning ‘secret’. The Latin word secretarius referred to a confidential aide, a person someone could trust with secret or private matters.

The idea of writing letters and performing clerical duties developed later in Latin, and emerged in English in the 15th century.

Let’s look at an illustrated example . . .

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In the picture we see the 44th president of the United States, Barack Obama, sitting in front of his secretary.

Sentence example: On the left we see Katie Johnson, personal secretary to the president of the United States, Barack Obama.

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A secretary may also be known as a ‘personal assistant’ or ‘administrative assistant’ who takes care of a wide range of administrative duties.

The word ‘secretary’ is also used in titles of high office in government. For example . . .

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The title “The Great Offices of State” refer to senior offices in the United Kingdom Government, namely:

1. Prime Minister
2. Chancellor of the Exchequer
3. Foreign Secretary
4. Home Secretary

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The title Secretary of State is used by many governments around the world for a senior or mid-level post in government.

In the United States, the Secretary of State is one of the highest ranking members of the president’s cabinet.

In the picture we see Colin Powell, the 65th United States Secretary of State who served from 2001 to 2005.

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SECRETARIAL – adjective
Definition: relating to the work or position of a secretary

The picture shows a woman with her laptop computer.

The sentence reads: She spent the evenings browsing the internet, looking for secretarial work.

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Here are some additional related words:

A secretaire is a piece of furniture – usually an enclosed writing desk.

A secretariat is an office responsible for secretarial, clerical, and administrative affairs.
The picture shows the Secretariat building at the United Nations headquarters in New York.

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In summary, SECRETARY comes from a Latin word related to keeping secrets. In modern usage it refers to writing and clerical duties. SECRETARIAL is the adjective.

It often appears in titles of high government office.

Related words include:

SECRETAIRE – a writing desk

SECRETARIAT – an office of administrative affairs

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Image Credits

Slide 4 – Katie Johnson
Public Domain https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:President_Barack_Obama_listens_to_Senior_Advisor_David_Axelrod_in_the_outer_Oval_Office_on_June_26,_2009.jpg

Slide 6: 10 Downing Street
Open Government Licence
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:10_Downing_Street._MOD_45155532.jpg

Royal Coat of Arms
Creative Commons
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Coat_of_Arms_of_the_United_Kingdom_(HM_Government)_(2022).svg

Slide 7: Colin Powell
Public Domain
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Colin_Powell_official_Secretary_of_State_photo.jpg

Slide 8 – secretarial
Creative Commons
https://flic.kr/p/2jvbULY

Slide 9: writing desk
Public Domain
https://flic.kr/p/NKK3aJ

UN Secretariat
Creative Commons
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Calm_(235467517).jpeg

Regarding the use of illustrations and photographs used in this video:

Creative Commons Attribution Licence
Others are allowed to copy, distribute, display, and perform copyrighted work – and derivative works based upon it if they give credit to the creator or source.
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode

Open Government Licence
The Licensor grants you a worldwide, royalty-free, perpetual, non-exclusive licence to use the Information subject to conditions.
This licence does not affect your freedom under fair dealing or fair use or any other copyright or database right exceptions and limitations.

Public Domain
Public domain works are not restricted by copyright and do not require a license or fee to use. Public domain status allows the user unrestricted access and unlimited creativity. These are typically very old works.

In addition to learning the origin and meaning of SECRETARY, and seeing SECRETARY in a sentence, check this word:
The Meaning of GOSSIP – GOSSIP in a Sentence