auxiliary
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English
Etymology
From Latin auxiliārius (“assistant, ally”), equiv. to auxiliāris (“helping, aiding”), from auxilium (“help, aid”), from augēre (“to increase”).
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ɔːɡˈzɪl(j)əɹi/, /ɔːɡˈzɪli.əɹi/
Audio (Southern England) (file) - (General American) IPA(key): /ɔɡˈzɪl(j)(ə)ɹi/, /ɔɡˈzɪliɛɹi/
- (cot–caught merger) IPA(key): /ɑɡˈzɪl(j)(ə)ɹi/, /ɑɡˈzɪliɛɹi/
- Rhymes: -ɪliəɹi
- Rhymes: -ɪliɛəɹi
- Rhymes: -ɪləɹi
Adjective
auxiliary (not comparable)
- Helping; giving assistance or support.
- Supplementary or subsidiary.
- Held in reserve for exceptional circumstances.
- (nautical) Of a ship, having both sails and an engine.
- (grammar) Relating to an auxiliary verb.
Synonyms
- (supplementary): accessory
- (having sails and engine): motorsailer
Translations
helping; giving assistance or support
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supplementary or subsidiary
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held in reserve for exceptional circumstances
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of a ship, having both sails and an engine
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relating to an auxiliary verb
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
Noun
auxiliary (plural auxiliaries)
- A person or group that acts in an auxiliary manner.
- 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.
- 1962 September, G. Freeman Allen, “The New Look in Scotland's Northern Division—1”, in Modern Railways, page 163:
- A drive to exploit the Highlands as a winter sports area, with all the necessary auxiliaries, such as chair lifts in the Cairngorms, shows increasing promise, [...].
- A sailing vessel equipped with an engine.
- (grammar) An auxiliary verb.
- 1988, Andrew Radford, Transformational grammar: a first course, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, page 151:
- The three traditionally recognized Non-modal Auxiliaries are the per-
fective Auxiliary have, the progressive Auxiliary be, and the passive Auxiliary
be. Perfective have is so-called because it marks the completion (hence, perfec-
tion) of an action; it is followed by a VP headed by a perfective -n participle, as
in:
(121) The referee has [VP shown him the red card]
- A marching band colorguard.
Translations
person or group that acts in an auxiliary manner
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auxiliary verb — see auxiliary verb
Derived terms
Related terms
See also
Further reading
- “auxiliary”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- “auxiliary”, in The Century Dictionary , New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
- “auxiliary”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.