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  

/ ˈsɛkrətrɪ, -ərɪ /

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

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

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• 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

See Examples For:

secretary secretaries

"The fact that victims have been withdrawing their cases because they have taken too long has been a disgrace," said shadow justice secretary Nick Timothy.

From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2026

Priebus was fairly swiftly given the heave-ho in favor of retired Gen. John Kelly, who was serving as secretary of homeland security.

From Salon ● Sep. 20, 2026

The health secretary reported receiving two book advances for $2 million each for his books “Unsettled Science” and “A Defense for Israel.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026

Hall was first elected secretary general of the party in 1959, a title he held until his death in 2000.

From Slate ● Sep. 18, 2026

Rounding out the large party were three doctors, two ministers, a military general, a former secretary of the US Navy, more writers and editors, plus a businessman or two.

From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock

At the Pentagon, President Trump attended a commemoration alongside cabinet secretaries and Condoleezza Rice, who was US secretary of state on 9/11.

From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026

She had no experience running a major operation like a federal department, and no reform agenda of the sort pursued by Mr. Trump’s first-term labor secretaries, Alexander Acosta and Eugene Scalia.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026

Their owners include schoolteachers and secretaries alongside some of Los Angeles’ wealthiest families.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026

In fact, Leavitt may well become the gold standard for press secretaries into the foreseeable future.

From Salon ● Aug. 14, 2026

Wolf specialized in infiltrating the West German government, sometimes with "Romeo spies," who would strike up romances with unsuspecting single women—many of them secretaries to powerful generals and political figures.

From "Spies: The Secret Showdown Between America and Russia" by Marc Favreau

Related Words

• assistant
• clerk
• executive secretary