ancillary

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English

Etymology

From Latin ancillāris (ancillary; relating to maids), from ancilla (maid).

Pronunciation

Adjective

ancillary (comparative more ancillary, superlative most ancillary)

  1. 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:
      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

Noun

ancillary (plural ancillaries)

  1. 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.
  2. (archaic) An auxiliary.

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