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ancillary. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
ancillary, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
ancillary in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
ancillary you have here. The definition of the word
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ancillary, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
Etymology
From Latin ancillāris (“ancillary; relating to maids”), from ancilla (“maid”).
Pronunciation
Adjective
ancillary (comparative more ancillary, superlative most ancillary)
- Subordinate; secondary; auxiliary.
- Synonym: accessory
1836, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nature, Chapter 3:[…] how easily he took all things along with him,—the persons, the opinions, and the day, and nature became ancillary to a man.
1898, John Wesley Powell, “Chapter 7”, in Truth and Error:[E]very organ of the body, whatever function it may perform, must also perform the other four functions in an ancillary manner.
2019, Li Huang, James Lambert, “Another Arrow for the Quiver: A New Methodology for Multilingual Researchers”, in Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, →DOI, page 4:The cafeteria is primarily used by students and staff (academic, administrative, and ancillary).
Derived terms
Translations
subordinate, secondary, auxiliary, accessory
- Bulgarian: помощен (bg) (pomošten), спомагателен (bg) (spomagatelen)
- Catalan: auxiliar (ca)
- Danish: sekundær, underordnet (da)
- Dutch: ondergeschikt (nl), ondersteunend (nl)
- Finnish: avustava (fi), apu- (fi), oheis- (fi); tukeva (fi), tuki- (fi); toissijainen (fi)
- French: subordonné (fr) m, secondaire (fr) m or f, auxiliaire (fr) m or f, ancillaire (fr)
- German: hilfs-, neben- (de), zusatz-
- Italian: subordinato (it) m, secondario (it) m, ausiliare (it)
- Polish: podrzędny (pl), podporządkowany, pomocniczy (pl), akcesoryczny (pl)
- Portuguese: subordinado (pt) m, secundário (pt) m, auxiliar (pt), ancilário m, ancilar (pt), auxiliário (pt) m
- Russian: вспомога́тельный (ru) (vspomogátelʹnyj), подсо́бный (ru) (podsóbnyj), дополни́тельный (ru) (dopolnítelʹnyj), подчинённый (ru) (podčinjónnyj)
- Spanish: secundario (es), auxiliar (es)
- Swedish: underordnad (sv), sekundär (sv)
- Turkish: yardımcı (tr), tali (tr)
- Urdu: مُعاوِن (muawan)
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Noun
ancillary (plural ancillaries)
- Something that serves an ancillary function, such as an easel for a painter.
1950 November, “Mixed-Traffic Diesel-Electric Locomotives for Ireland”, in Railway Magazine, page 781:Auxiliaries and ancillaries are comprehensive, and include a Westinghouse motor-driven recriprocating compressor used for locomotive braking and general service air, two rotary exhauster sets for train brakes when hauling passenger or fitted freight trains, and an oil-fired train heating boiler.
- (archaic) An auxiliary.
Translations
References
- “ancillary”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- “ancillary”, in The Century Dictionary , New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
- “ancillary”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
Anagrams