SECRETARY | English meaning - Cambridge Dictionary
/ Sign up
English (UK)

Meaning of secretary in English

secretary
noun [ C ]
uk
/ˈsek.rə.tər.i/ us
/ˈsek.rə.ter.i/

secretary noun [C] (OFFICE)

Add to word list Add to word list
A2
someone who works in an office, writing letters, making phone calls, and arranging meetings for a person or for an organization:
My secretary will phone you to arrange a meeting.
More examplesFewer examples
SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
Types of employment
See more results »

secretary noun [C] (COMMITTEE)

C1
the member of a committee of an organization, club, etc. who keeps records of meetings, sends letters, emails, etc.:
The three elected members of the committee are the chair, secretary, and treasurer.
SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
Organizations, Societies & clubs
See more results »

You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

secretary noun [C] (OFFICIAL)

an official who has responsibility for the general management of an organization:
The company secretary has written to all the shareholders to apologize for the mistake.
SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
Bosses & managers
See more results »
Secretary
noun [ C ]
uk
/ˈsek.rə.təri/ us
/ˈsek.rə.ter.i/
UK
a Secretary of State :
the Foreign Secretary
the Home Secretary
US
the head of a government department, chosen by the president and not a member of a law-making group:
the Secretary of Health and Human Services
SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
Government ministers & civil servants
See more results »

You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:
(Definition of secretary from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

secretary | American Dictionary

secretary
noun [ C ]
us
/ˈsek·rɪˌter·i/

secretary noun [C] (OFFICE WORKER)

Add to word list Add to word list
a person who works in an office and prepares letters, keeps records, schedules meetings, and makes other arrangements for a particular person or for an organization

secretary noun [C] (GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL)

the head of a government department:
the Secretary of the Treasury

secretary noun [C] (WRITER)

an official in an organization who is responsible for writing notes about what happens at meetings and sending official letters:
Freya is running for secretary of the student council.
(Definition of secretary from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

secretary | Business English

secretary
noun [ C ]
uk
/ˈsekrətəri/ us
secretaries
Add to word list Add to word list
WORKPLACE
someone who works in an office, writing letters, making telephone calls, organizing meetings, etc. for other people:
She works at the International Convention Centre as a secretary.
When I called, her secretary said she was in a meeting.
used in the names of some officials with particular responsibilities in some organizations:
The secretary takes the minutes of the meeting.
GOVERNMENT  
(also Secretary)
in the UK, a Member of Parliament or Member of the House of Lords who is in charge of a government department:
Energy/Home/Foreign Secretary
secretary of sth He is a member of the Efficiency Commission and a former secretary of commerce.
the Secretary of State for Health
GOVERNMENT  
(also Secretary); ( abbreviation Secy.)
in the US, the head of a government department appointed by the President:
Secretary of Defense
Defense/Commerce/Treasury Secretary

See also

company secretary
corporate secretary
executive secretary
general secretary
press secretary
(Definition of secretary from the Cambridge Business English Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of secretary

secretary
The party secretary was accused of participating in the planning of the attack (their plan was not to inflict fatal injuries on the villagers).
From the Cambridge English Corpus
A litigious society created an increased need for litigation masters, while local magistrates had to rely ever more heavily on private secretaries.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
I settled on the executive vice president/chief medical offer and introduced myself to his secretary.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
Before 1963 there was no full-time manager, administrative duties being handled by a secretary and volunteers who staffed the headquarters and the clinics.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
Membership was confined to the regional commissioner, rural development officer, zonal rural development officer, regional technical officers and the administrative secretary.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
With ministers being temporary, this task falls to the permanent secretary.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
The permanent secretary, after reviewing both positions, re-introduced the two-tier system.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
It opened the gate. 11 out of 32 permanent secretaries were removed.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
As the party is the core of the leadership, the secretary has more power than you do.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
What happened this year, the provincial secretaries had a lot of discussion, using their lists.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
He looks much better in these borrowed plumes than when dressed as the secretary.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
In the first model party secretaries dominate the village power structure, that is there are strong party secretaries but weak village chiefs.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
Elected village chiefs increasingly resist party secretary control over village economic associations, and demand the right to control the village economy.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
The letters and papers he received were preserved by his secretaries and family, not kept by himself for later use.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
The regulations also made provisions for supernumerary secretary positions.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
See all examples of secretary
These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.

Collocations with secretary

secretary

These are words often used in combination with secretary.

Click on a collocation to see more examples of it.

assistant secretary
I am the assistant secretary.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0
cabinet secretary
Barnet council's cabinet office was established last year and has two "non-political" members of staff—a full-time cabinet adviser and a part-time cabinet secretary.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0
deputy secretary
Only two were smaller craftsmen, and they held the relatively minor office of deputy secretary for a total of three years.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.
See all collocations with secretary
What is the pronunciation of secretary, Secretary?
 

Translations of secretary

in Chinese (Traditional)
辦公室, 秘書, （委員會）秘書…
See more
in Chinese (Simplified)
办公室, 秘书, （委员会）秘书…
See more
in Spanish
secretario, secretaria, ministro…
See more
in Portuguese
secretária, Ministro de Estado, Ministra de Estado…
See more
in more languages
in Marathi
in Japanese
in Turkish
in French
in Catalan
in Dutch
in Tamil
in Hindi
in Gujarati
in Danish
in Swedish
in Malay
in German
in Norwegian
in Urdu
in Ukrainian
in Russian
in Telugu
in Arabic
in Bengali
in Czech
in Indonesian
in Thai
in Vietnamese
in Polish
in Korean
in Italian
सचिव…
See more
秘書, 長官, 大臣…
See more
sekreter, bakan…
See more
secrétaire [masculine-feminine], secrétaire…
See more
secretari, -ària…
See more
secretaresse, secretaris…
See more
ஒரு அலுவலகத்தில் பணிபுரியும் ஒருவர், கடிதங்களை எழுதுவது, தொலைபேசி அழைப்புகளைச் செய்வது மற்றும் ஒரு நபருக்கு அல்லது ஒரு நிறுவனத்திற்கு கூட்டங்களை ஏற்பாடு செய்வது…
See more
सचिव, सेक्रेटरी, बैठकों का रिकॉर्ड रखने और पत्र ईमेल आदि भेजने वाला किसी समिति…
See more
મંત્રી, સચિવ…
See more
sekretær…
See more
sekreterare…
See more
setiausaha…
See more
der Sekretär / die Sekretärin, der Geschäftsführer / die Geschäftsführerin…
See more
sekretær [masculine], minister [masculine], sekretær…
See more
سکریٹری (ایک عہدہ), سکریٹری (معتمند)…
See more
секретар…
See more
секретарь, министр…
See more
సెక్రటరీ, కార్యదర్శి / సమావేశాల రికార్డులను ఉంచే, లేఖలు ఇమెయిల్‌లు మొదలైనవాటిని పంపే సంస్థ…
See more
سِكْرتير, وَزير, أمين عام…
See more
সচিব, সেক্রেটারি, এমন কেউ যিনি অফিসে কাজ করেন…
See more
sekretář, -ka, tajemník…
See more
sekretaris…
See more
เลขานุการ, เลขาธิการ…
See more
thư kí, cán bộ…
See more
sekretarka, sekretarz, protokolant…
See more
비서, 장관…
See more
segretario, -a…
See more
Need a translator?

Get a quick, free translation!

Translator tool
 

Browse

secret weapon
secretarial
secretariat
secretaries general
secretary
secretary general
Secretary of State
secrete
secreted

Word of the Day

pollen count

UK
/ˈpɒl.ən ˌkaʊnt/
US
/ˈpɑː.lən ˌkaʊnt/

a measurement of the amount of pollen in the air

About this

Blog

Varied and diverse (Talking about differences, Part 1)

New Words

WFB

More new words
has been added to list
To top
Contents
EnglishAmericanBusinessExamplesCollocationsTranslations
English (UK)   Change
English (UK) English (US) Español Русский Português Deutsch Français Italiano 中文 (简体) 正體中文 (繁體) Polski 한국어 Türkçe 日本語 Tiếng Việt Nederlands Svenska Dansk Norsk हिंदी বাঙ্গালি मराठी ગુજરાતી தமிழ் తెలుగు Українська
Follow us
Choose a dictionary
  • Recent and Recommended
  • Definitions
    Clear explanations of natural written and spoken English
    English Learner’s Dictionary Essential British English Essential American English
  • Grammar and thesaurus
    Usage explanations of natural written and spoken English
    Grammar Thesaurus
  • Pronunciation
    British and American pronunciations with audio
    English Pronunciation
  • Translation
    Click on the arrows to change the translation direction.
    Bilingual Dictionaries
    • English–Chinese (Simplified) Chinese (Simplified)–English
    • English–Chinese (Traditional) Chinese (Traditional)–English
    • English–Dutch Dutch–English
    • English–French French–English
    • English–German German–English
    • English–Indonesian Indonesian–English
    • English–Italian Italian–English
    • English–Japanese Japanese–English
    • English–Norwegian Norwegian–English
    • English–Polish Polish–English
    • English–Portuguese Portuguese–English
    • English–Spanish Spanish–English
    • English–Swedish Swedish–English
    Semi-bilingual Dictionaries
    English–Arabic English–Bengali English–Catalan English–Czech English–Danish English–Gujarati English–Hindi English–Korean English–Malay English–Marathi English–Russian English–Tamil English–Telugu English–Thai English–Turkish English–Ukrainian English–Urdu English–Vietnamese
  • Dictionary +Plus
    Word Lists
Contents
My word lists

To add secretary to a word list please sign up or log in.

Sign up or Log in
My word lists

Add secretary to one of your lists below, or create a new one.

More
Go to your word lists
Tell us about this example sentence: