sec

Translingual

Symbol

sec

1. (trigonometry) Symbol of the trigonometric function secant.

   Coordinate terms: csc, cot, arcsec

2. (nonstandard) Symbol of second, an SI unit of measurement of time.

Usage notes

The standard symbol for "second" is s.

English

Alternative forms

• sec.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sɛk/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛk

Noun

sec (plural sec or secs)

1. (colloquial) Second, ¹⁄₆₀ of a minute.
2. (colloquial) Clipping of second (“short indeterminate period of time”).

   Wait a sec!

   • 1881 August 27, “In Church”, in Supplement to the Manchester Weekly Times, Manchester, England, page 8:

     And the sloping of the shoulder / From the slender shapely neck / Makes you long to come behind her and to hold her / Just a sec.

3. (colloquial, politics) Clipping of secretary.

   shadow sec

Derived terms

• com sec
• just a sec

See also

Anagrams

• CES, CEs, CSE, ECS, ESC, Esc, SCE, ces, sce.

Aromanian

Etymology 1

From Latin siccus. Compare Romanian sec.

Alternative forms

• secu

Adjective

sec

1. dry
2. barren, deserted

Etymology 2

From Latin siccō. Compare Romanian seca, sec.

Alternative forms

• secu

Verb

sec first-singular present indicative (third-person singular present indicative seacã, past participle sicatã)

1. to dry, dry up
2. to exhaust, wither, drain, empty

Related terms

• sicari / sicare
• sicat
• sicãturã
• seatsitã

Catalan

Etymology 1

Inherited from Old Catalan sech, from Latin siccus (“dry”), from Proto-Indo-European *seyk-.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central)
• IPA^(key): (Balearic)
• IPA^(key): (Valencian)

Adjective

sec (feminine seca, masculine plural secs, feminine plural seques)

1. dry (free from or lacking moisture)

   Synonym: eixut

2. (of wine) dry (low in sugar)
3. skinny

Related terms

Etymology 2

Deverbal from segar (“to harvest”).

Alternative forms

• séc (pre-2016 spelling)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencian)
• Homophone: cec

Noun

sec m (plural secs)

1. fold
2. groove
3. wrinkle

Etymology 3

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencian)

Verb

sec

1. first-person singular present indicative of seure

Further reading

• “sec” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “sec”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
• “sec” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “sec” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Dutch

Etymology

From French sec

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sɛk/

• Audio

  (file)

Adjective

sec (used only predicatively, not comparable)

1. (of wine) dry
2. (figuratively) simple, plain, matter-of-fact, without adornment

Usage notes

• The figurative sense is often used adverbially:

  Hij presenteerde de zaak sec en zonder emotie. ― He presented the case matter-of-factly and without emotion.

French

Etymology

Inherited from Old French sec, from Latin siccus (“dry”), from Proto-Indo-European *seyk-.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sɛk/

• Audio (France, Paris)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛk

Adjective

sec (feminine sèche, masculine plural secs, feminine plural sèches)

1. dry
2. dried, having had its moisture evaporated

   des abricots secs ― dried apricots

   du poisson sec ― dried fish

3. lean, thin, skinny
   • 1837, Louis Viardot, L’Ingénieux Hidalgo Don Quichotte de la Manche, translation of El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Volume I, Chapter I:

     [I]l était de complexion robuste, maigre de corps, sec de visage, fort matineux et grand ami de la chasse.

     e was of a robust complexion, thin in the body, lean in the face, a very early riser and a friend of the hunt.

4. (of alcohol) dry, unsweetened, not sweet, bitter
5. (of a person) curt

   Désolé si j’ai été un peu sec.

   Sorry if I was a bit curt.

Descendants

• → Dutch: sec
• → Turkish: sek

Noun

sec m (plural secs)

1. something that is dry
   • 1883, Louis Segond, transl., La Bible, Genesis 1:9:

     Que les eaux qui sont au-dessous du ciel se rassemblent en un seul lieu, et que le sec paraisse.

     Let the waters below the heavens gather in one place, and let the dry stuff (i.e. the land) come forth.

Adverb

sec

1. sharply, abruptly, quickly, swiftly, briskly

   Les bouches buvaient sec et parlaient beaucoup.

   The mouths were eating quickly and talking a lot

Derived terms

Related terms

Further reading

• “sec”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé , 2012.

Anagrams

• ces

Lower Sorbian

Alternative forms

• ssez (obsolete)

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *sěťi (“to cut, chop”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sɛt͡s/

Verb

sec impf (perfective pósec)

1. to mow (cut something down)

Conjugation

Derived terms

Further reading

• Muka, Arnošt (1921, 1928) “sec”, in Słownik dolnoserbskeje rěcy a jeje narěcow (in German), St. Petersburg, Prague: ОРЯС РАН, ČAVU; Reprinted Bautzen: Domowina-Verlag, 2008
• Starosta, Manfred (1999) “sec”, in Dolnoserbsko-nimski słownik / Niedersorbisch-deutsches Wörterbuch (in German), Bautzen: Domowina-Verlag

Occitan

Etymology

From Old Occitan sec, from Latin siccus (“dry”), from Proto-Indo-European *seyk-.

Pronunciation

• Audio (Béarn)

  (file)

Adjective

sec m (feminine singular seca, masculine plural secs, feminine plural secas)

1. dry

Related terms

• secar

Further reading

• Joan de Cantalausa (2006) Diccionari general occitan a partir dels parlars lengadocians‎, 2 edition, →ISBN, page 898.
• Diccionari General de la Lenga Occitana, L’Academia occitana – Consistòri del Gai Saber, 2008-2024, page 591.

Old English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /seːk/

Adjective

sēc (Anglian)

1. Alternative form of sēoc

Declension

Old French

Etymology

From Latin siccus.

Adjective

sec m (oblique and nominative feminine singular seche)

1. dry (lacking moisture)

Declension

Descendants

• French: sec
• Norman: sé
• Walloon: setch

References

• Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l’ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IX^e au XV^e siècle (1881) (sec, supplement)
• sec on the Anglo-Norman On-Line Hub

Romanian

Etymology

Inherited from Latin siccus, from Proto-Indo-European *seyk-.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sek/

• Audio

  (file)

Adjective

sec m or n (feminine singular seacă, plural seci)

1. dry
2. barren, empty, deserted; also dried up
3. (figuratively) missing or deficient in something, lacking; also useless
4. (figuratively) dull, stupid, empty-headed
5. (regional, Transylvania) skinny

Declension

Synonyms

• (dry): uscat
• (empty): gol, deșert
• (stupid): prost
• (skinny): slab

Related terms

• seca
• secetă

Romansch

Alternative forms

• sitg, setg (Rumantsch Grischun, Surmiran)
• schetg (Sursilvan)
• sétg (Sutsilvan)
• sech (Puter, Vallader)

Etymology

From Latin siccus.

Adjective

sec m (feminine singular secca, masculine plural secs, feminine plural seccas)

1. (Sursilvan) dry

Swedish

Adjective

sec

1. dry (especially of white wine)

References

• sec in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• sec in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)