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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 (gcide)

Secretary \Sec"re*ta*ry\, n.; pl. {Secretaries}. [F.
secr['e]taire (cf. Pr. secretari, Sp. & Pg. secretario, It.
secretario, segretario) LL. secretarius, originally, a
confidant, one intrusted with secrets, from L. secretum a
secret. See {Secret}, a. & n.]
1. One who keeps, or is intrusted with, secrets. [R.]
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2. A person employed to write orders, letters, dispatches,
public or private papers, records, and the like; an
official scribe, amanuensis, or writer; one who attends to
correspondence, and transacts other business, for an
association, a public body, or an individual.
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That which is most of all profitable is acquaintance
with the secretaries, and employed men of
ambassadors. --Bacon.
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3. An officer of state whose business is to superintend and
manage the affairs of a particular department of
government, and who is usually a member of the cabinet or
advisory council of the chief executive; as, the secretary
of state, who conducts the correspondence and attends to
the relations of a government with foreign courts; the
secretary of the treasury, who manages the department of
finance; the secretary of war, etc.
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4. A piece of furniture, with conveniences for writing and
for the arrangement of papers; an escritoire.
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5. (Zool.) The secretary bird.
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{Secretary bird}. [So called in allusion to the tufts of
feathers at the back of its head, which were fancifully
thought to resemble pens stuck behind the ear.] (Zool.) A
large long-legged raptorial bird ({Gypogeranus
serpentarius}), native of South Africa, but now
naturalized in the West Indies and some other tropical
countries. It has a powerful hooked beak, a crest of long
feathers, and a long tail. It feeds upon reptiles of
various kinds, and is much prized on account of its habit
of killing and devouring snakes of all kinds. Called also
{serpent eater}.
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Syn: See the Note under {Clerk}, n., 4.
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