secondary
secondary Lexical Profile
secondary Game Scores & Validity
• adjective
Coming after, less important than, or resulting from someone or something else that is primary.
"Cost was only a secondary consideration when the board selected the new safety equipment."
Created by, derived from, or depending on something original or primary rather than occurring directly.
"Historians rely on both eyewitness accounts and secondary sources to reconstruct past events."
Relating to education or schools for students between the ages of approximately eleven and eighteen, following elementary or primary school.
"She earned her teaching certificate in secondary education with a specialization in biology."
• noun
North American The defensive backfield in American football, consisting of the cornerbacks and safeties who defend primarily against passes.
"The quarterback struggled to complete long passes against the opposing team's fast secondary."
A person or thing of lesser rank, subordinate importance, or second place in a sequence or system.
"In this telescope design, the light reflects off the primary mirror onto a smaller secondary."
One of the inner flight feathers of a bird's wing attached to the forearm bone (ulna), located inward from the primary feathers.
"The ornithologist identified the hawk species by the distinct dark barring across its secondaries."
• Rhymes for secondary
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed from Old French secondaire or directly from Latin secundarius ('of the second class or rank'), derived from secundus ('following, second').