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.

The standard symbol for "second" is s.

• sec.

• IPA^(key): /sɛk/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛk

sec (plural sec or secs)

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

   Synonyms: jiffy, mo, tic; see also Thesaurus:moment

   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, especially politics) Clipping of secretary

   shadow sec

• com sec
• just a sec

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

From Latin siccus. Compare Romanian sec.

• secu

sec

1. dry
2. barren, deserted

From Latin siccō. Compare Romanian seca, sec.

• secu

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

• sicari / sicare
• sicat
• sicãturã
• seatsitã

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

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

• Audio (Catalonia):

  (file)

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

Deverbal from segar (“to harvest”).

• séc (pre-2016)

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

sec m (plural secs)

1. fold
2. groove
3. wrinkle

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

sec

1. first-person singular present indicative of seure

• “sec”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies , 2007 April
• “sec”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025.
• “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.

From French sec.

• IPA^(key): /sɛk/

• Audio:

  (file)

sec (used only predicatively, not comparable)

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

• 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.

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

• IPA^(key): /sɛk/

• Audio (Paris):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛk

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:

     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.

• → Dutch: sec
• → Turkish: sek

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.

sec

1. sharply, abruptly, quickly, swiftly, briskly

   Les bouches buvaient sec et parlaient beaucoup.

   The mouths were eating quickly and talking a lot

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

• ces

• ssez (obsolete)

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

• IPA^(key): /ˈsɛt͡s/
• Rhymes: -ɛt͡s
• Syllabification: sec

sec impf (perfective pósec)

1. to mow (cut something down)

• 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

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

• Audio (Béarn):

  (file)

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

1. dry

• secar

• 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.

• IPA^(key): /seːk/

sēc (Anglian)

1. alternative form of sēoc

From Latin siccus.

sec m (oblique and nominative feminine singular seche)

1. dry (lacking moisture)

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

• 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

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

• IPA^(key): /sek/

• Audio:

  (file)

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

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

• seca
• secetă

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

From Latin siccus.

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

1. (Sursilvan) dry

sec

1. dry (especially of white wine)

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