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

• 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

Asked if the new orders would withstand judicial scrutiny, Trump predicted they would, before directing the question to White House staff secretary Will Scharf.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026

Since becoming secretary, Hegseth has sought to put in place strict controls limiting the information that reporters can gather from the Pentagon, as well.

From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026

Her account can be seen as a response to one colonial secretary of Ceylon, who in 1903 believed scientific management would revolutionize the collection of pearls.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026

She’ll complain about me needing to find a secretary before rattling off the results, links to Slate articles and a recent award.

From Slate ● Aug. 6, 2026

Watching through binoculars, communicating over walkie-talkies, they tracked the secretary of defense’s car across the campus.

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

President Trump, members of Congress, world leaders, cabinet secretaries and television hosts were among the mourners assembled at the National Cathedral in Washington.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026

"We've had so many changes - 10 environment secretaries in 10 years," he said.

From BBC ● Jun. 29, 2026

Stanford’s Hoover Institution has housed former secretaries of State and national security advisors for decades.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 2026

Having all this information in one place is especially vital for Cabinet secretaries and White House aides who make decisions on the National Security Council.

From Slate ● Jun. 15, 2026

It was full of pigeons, students, drunks, dogs, squirrels, children, trees, and secretaries.

From "Song of Solomon" by Toni Morrison

Related Words

• assistant
• clerk
• executive secretary