- [only before noun] connected with teaching children of 11–18 years
- secondary teachers
- the secondary curriculum
- less important than something else
- That is just a secondary consideration.
- Experience is what matters—age is of secondary importance.
- secondary to something Raising animals was only secondary to other forms of farming.
- After a while, his writing became secondary to his celebrity.
- Forests are secondary in importance only to the oceans in their effects on the earth.
- The characters and plot become secondary to the setting and atmosphere.
- [usually before noun] happening as a result of something else
- a secondary infection
- a secondary effect
- a secondary colour (= made from mixing two primary colours)
- a secondary outcome
Word Originlate Middle English: from Latin secundarius ‘of the second quality or class’, from secundus ‘following, second’, from the base of sequi ‘follow’.
Check pronunciation:
secondary