secretaries

1 definition found

secretaries - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Secretary \Sec"re*ta*ry\, n.; pl. Secretaries. [F.
     secr['e]taire (cf. Pr. secretari, Sp. & Pg. secretario, It.
     secretario, segretario) LL. secretarius, originally, a
     confidant, one intrusted with secrets, from L. secretum a
     secret. See Secret, a. & n.]
     1. One who keeps, or is intrusted with, secrets. [R.]
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     2. A person employed to write orders, letters, dispatches,
        public or private papers, records, and the like; an
        official scribe, amanuensis, or writer; one who attends to
        correspondence, and transacts other business, for an
        association, a public body, or an individual.
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              That which is most of all profitable is acquaintance
              with the secretaries, and employed men of
              ambassadors.                          --Bacon.
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     3. An officer of state whose business is to superintend and
        manage the affairs of a particular department of
        government, and who is usually a member of the cabinet or
        advisory council of the chief executive; as, the secretary
        of state, who conducts the correspondence and attends to
        the relations of a government with foreign courts; the
        secretary of the treasury, who manages the department of
        finance; the secretary of war, etc.
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     4. A piece of furniture, with conveniences for writing and
        for the arrangement of papers; an escritoire.
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     5. (Zool.) The secretary bird.
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     Secretary bird. [So called in allusion to the tufts of
        feathers at the back of its head, which were fancifully
        thought to resemble pens stuck behind the ear.] (Zool.) A
        large long-legged raptorial bird (Gypogeranus  serpentarius
        ), native of South Africa, but now
        naturalized in the West Indies and some other tropical
        countries. It has a powerful hooked beak, a crest of long
        feathers, and a long tail. It feeds upon reptiles of
        various kinds, and is much prized on account of its habit
        of killing and devouring snakes of all kinds. Called also
        serpent eater.
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     Syn: See the Note under Clerk, n., 4.
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