secretary

American  

[sek-ri-ter-ee] / ˈsɛk rɪˌtɛr i /

noun

secretaries plural

1. a person, usually an official, who is in charge of the records, correspondence, minutes of meetings, and related affairs of an organization, company, association, etc..

   the secretary of the Linguistic Society of America.

2. a person employed to handle correspondence and do routine work in a business office, usually involving taking dictation, typing, filing, and the like.

3. private secretary.

4. (often initial capital letter) an officer of state charged with the superintendence and management of a particular department of government, as a member of the president's cabinet in the U.S..

   Secretary of the Treasury.

5. Also called diplomatic secretary.  a diplomatic official of an embassy or legation who ranks below a counselor and is usually assigned as first secretary, second secretary, or third secretary.

6. a piece of furniture for use as a writing desk.

7. Also called secretary bookcase.  a desk with bookshelves on top of it.

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secretary British  

/ -ərɪ, ˈsɛkrətrɪ, ˌsɛkrɪˈtɛərɪəl /

noun

1. a person who handles correspondence, keeps records, and does general clerical work for an individual, organization, etc

2. the official manager of the day-to-day business of a society or board

3. (in Britain) a senior civil servant who assists a government minister

4. (in the US and New Zealand) the head of a government administrative department

5. (in Britain) See secretary of state

6. (in Australia) the head of a public service department

7. diplomacy the assistant to an ambassador or diplomatic minister of certain countries

8. another name for secretaire

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• secretarial
  adjective
• subsecretaryship
  noun
• undersecretaryship
  noun
• subsecretary
  noun
• secretaryship
  noun

Inflected Forms

noun

• secretaries
  plural

Etymology

Origin of secretary

1350–1400; Middle English secretarie one trusted with private or secret matters; confidant < Medieval Latin sēcrētārius < Latin sēcrēt ( um ) secret (noun) + -ārius -ary

Explanation

If you handle the correspondence and clerical work for your boss or your company, you are a secretary. One of your duties as a secretary is to open the mail. Today, the preferred term for the kind of secretary who works in an office is administrative assistant. The noun secretary can also refer to the person who is in charge of an administrative department in the government, like the Secretary of Defense. A secretary can also be a piece of furniture — specifically, a type of writing desk.

Example Sentences

The then education secretary, Jenny Gilruth, said the issue would be looked at.

From BBC • Jun. 8, 2026

California’s secretary of state explicitly warned voters that counting would continue after Election Day, and election experts have spent years explaining why results often take days or even weeks to become final.

From Salon • Jun. 6, 2026

County election officials are required to provide the secretary of state with an updated tally of unprocessed ballots starting two days after election day and continuing every day until the count is complete.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 5, 2026

Spencer Collins, Arm’s chief legal officer and company secretary, executed the biggest sale, unloading $8.8 million worth of stock on May 19.

From Barron's • Jun. 5, 2026

President John Kennedy, who had appointed him secretary of defense in 1961, called McNamara the smartest man he’d ever met.

From "Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War" by Steve Sheinkin

Related Words

• assistant
• clerk
• executive secretary