secondary 
true prothallium by a diaphragm. The secondary pro- 
thallium is called the endosperm by some writers. Sec- 
ondary pulse-wave. See puhe-ieaee. Secondary 
qualities, (a) In the Aristotelian phttog., derived qual- 
ities of bodies : that is to say, all except hot and cold, 
wet and dry, which are the primary qualities of the ele- 
ments flre, earth, water, ami air. The secondary qualities 
are properly fourteen in number namely, heavy and 
light, dense and rare, thick and thin, hard and soft, sticky 
and friable, rough and smooth, coherent and slippery. 
Color, smell, and taste are also secondary qualities. (6) 
In modern philos., since Galileo (who in 1B23 calls the 
qualities known as primary " primi accident! ") and Boyle 
(who in 1666 uses the terra " secondary qualities, if 1 may 
so call them," in precisely the modern signification), af- 
fections of bodies; affective, patible, sensible qualities-, 
imputed qualities ; qualities of bodies relative to the or- 
gans of sense, as color, taste, smell, etc. : opposed to those 
characters (called primary qualttiex, though properly 
speaking they are not qualities at all) which we cannot 
imagine bodies as wanting. Sometimes called secondary 
properties. 
Such qualities which in truth are nothing in the objects 
themselves, but powers to produce various sensations in 
us by their primary qualities, i. e. by the bulk, figure, 
texture, and motion of their insensible parts, as colours, 
sounds, tastes, etc. these I call secondary qualities. 
Locke, Human Understanding, II. viii. 10. 
Secondary queen-posts. See queen-post. Secondary 
redistribution, a redistribution among the parts of an 
animal body and among the relative motions of the parts ; 
an alteration of structure or function going on within the 
body. Secondary root, in bot. See roo(i. Secondary 
sexual characters. See sexual. Secondary spores, 
in bot., slender branches produced upon the promycelium 
of certain fungi, as Tilletia caries, which give rise to 
small sporidia. They are the same as the sporidia of De 
Bary. Secondary stems, in bot. , branches; the rami- 
fications of the stem. Secondary strata, in geoi., the 
Mesozoic strata. See Mesozoic. Secondary syphilis. 
See syphilis. Secondary tints, in painting, tints of a 
subdued kind, such as grays. Secondary tone, in mu- 
sic, same as harmonic. Secondary truth, demonstra- 
tive truth. Secondary use. See . Secondary 
wood, in bot., wood formed on the inner face of a liber- 
bundle. 
II. n.; pi. secondaries (-riz). 1. A delegate 
or deputy; one who acts in subordination to 
another; one who occupies a subordinate or in- 
ferior position; specifically, a cathedral digni- 
tary of the second rank, such as a minor canon, 
precentor, singing clerk, etc. The application 
of the title varies in different cathedrals. 
I am too high-born to be propertied, 
To be a secondary at control. 
Shak., K. John, v. 2. 79. 
2. A thing which is of second or secondary 
position or importance, or is dependent on a 
primary: said of circles, planets, etc. 
A man's wages, to prevent pauperism, should include, 
besides present subsistence, what Dr. Chalmers has called 
his secondaries. 
Mayhem, London Labour and London Poor, II. 265. 
Specifically 3. A secondary remex or flight- 
feather ; one of the large quills of a bird's wing 
which are seated on the forearm, and intervene 
between the primaries and the tertiaries. They 
vary in number from six (in humming-birds) to 
forty or more (in albatrosses). See cuts under 
birdl and covert. 4. In entom., one of the pos- 
terior or hind wings of an insect, especially of a 
butterfly or moth. See cut under Cirroplianits. 
5. [cop.] In/ieoL, that part of the series of fossi- 
liferous formations which lies between the Pri- 
mary or Paleozoic and the Tertiary or Ceenozoic . 
Same as Mesozoic, a word introduced by John Phillips after 
Paleozoic had become current. Paleozoic and Mesozoic are 
now terms in general use ; but Casnozoic, corresponding 
to Tertiary, is much less common. Secondary as at pres- 
ent used by geologists has a quite different meaning 
from that which it originally had when introduced by 
Lehmann, about the middle of the eighteenth century. 
According to his classification, all rocks were divided 
into primitive, secondary, and alluvial. This classifica- 
tion was improved by Werner, who intercalated a "Transi- 
tion series " between the primary and the secondary. See 
Mesozoic, Paleozoic, Tertiary, and Transition. 
6. In meteor., a subsidiary cyclonic circulation , 
generally on the border of a primary cyclone, 
accompanied by rain, thunder-storms, and 
30.1 
Typical Arrangement of Isobars in a Secondary. 
squalls: indicated on a weather-map by the 
bulging of an isobar toward the region of 
higher pressure. 
second-best (sek'und-best), a. Next to the 
best; of second quality; best except one. 
5454 
Item I give unto my wife my second-best bed, with the 
furniture. 
Shale., Last Will and Testament (Life, xiii., Knight). 
I come into the second-best parlour after breakfast with 
my books . . . and a slate. Dickens, David Coppertteld, iv. 
It is one of the prime weaknesses of a democracy to be 
satisfied with the second-best if it appear to answer the 
purpose tolerably well, and to be cheaper as it never is 
in the long run. Lowell, Oration, Harvard, Nov. 8, 1886. 
To come off second-best, to be defeated ; get the worst 
of a contest. [Humorous.] 
second-class (sek'und-klas), a. 1. Belonging 
to the class next after the first: specifically 
noting railway-carriages, steamer accommo- 
dations, and the like: as, second-class passen- 
gers; a second-claxs ticket. 2. Inferior, in any 
sense: as, a tt<-n>ii<l-rltisx hotel Second-class 
matter, in the postal system of the United States (1890), 
mail- matter consisting of newspapers and other periodical 
publications, issued at stated intervals, and sent from the 
office of publication. 
second-cut (sek'und-kut), o. In hardirnn; 
noting files of a grade between bastard files 
and smooth files. 
seconde (se-kond'), [F., < second, second : 
see second 1 .'] Infencing, aparry, thrust, counter, 
etc., on the fencing-floor. Probably it was at first 
the second defensive position assumed by a swordsman 
after drawing his weapon from the scabbard held in his 
left hand. Also spelled egoon. See prime, n., .">. 
We'll go through the whole exercise : carte, tierce, and 
seyoon. Caiman, Jealous Wife, iv. 
seconder (sek'un-der), n. [< second! + -er 1 .] 
One who seconds ; one who approves and sup- 
ports what another attempts, affirms, or pro- 
poses : as, the seconder of a motion. 
Second-hand 1 (sek'und-hand), a. and n. [< 
second hand, in the phrase at second hand (which 
see, under hand).'] I. a. 1. Received from an- 
other or a previous owner or user, (o) Not original. 
Some men build so much upon authorities they have 
but a second-hand or implicit knowledge. Locke. 
Those manners next 
That lit us like a nature second-hand; 
Which are indeed the manners of the great 
Tennyson, Walking to the Mail. 
(b) Not new ; having been used or worn : as, a second-hand 
book ; second-hand clothes. 
My bricks, being second-hand ones, required to be 
cleaned with a trowel. Thoreau, Walden, p. 268. 
2. Dealing in second-hand goods : as, & second- 
hand bookseller. 
To point out, in the first instance, the particulars of the 
greatest of the Second-Hofid trades that in Clothing. 
Mayhew, London Labour and London Poor, II. 526. 
Second-hand witness, a witness who cn give only hear- 
say evidence. 
II. n. Matter derived from previous users. 
I expected to find some hints in the good second-hand 
of a respectable clerical publication. 
De Morgan, Budget of Paradoxes, p. 217. 
second-hand 2 (sek'und-hand), n. [< second 2 
+ Affwrf.] A hand for marking seconds on a 
clock or watch. 
secondinet, n. An obsolete form of seetindine. 
secondly (sek'und-li), adv. .{< second 1 + -7# 2 .] 
In the second place. 
First, she hath disobeyed the law of the most High ; and, 
secondly, she hath trespassed against her own husband. 
Ecclus. xxiii. 23. 
second-mark (sek'und-mark), . The charac- 
ter ", used in mathematics as the mark for a 
second of arc, in architecture as the mark for 
inches, and as the sign for a second of time. 
The last use is unusual and objectionable. 
secondo (se-kon'do), n. [It. : see second 2 ."] In 
music, the second performer or lower part in a 
duet, especially a pianoforte duet : opposed to 
primo. Also second. 
second-rate (sek'und-rat), a. and n. [< second 
rate, in the phrase of the second rate."] I. a. 
Of the second rate, as to size, rank, quality, im- 
portance, or estimation: as, a second-rate ship; 
second-rate works; a second-rate actor. 
II. n. Anything that is rated or classed as 
second. 
These so-called second rates are more powerful than the 
best ironclads the French have afloat. 
British Quarterly Rev., LVII. 113. (Encyc. Diet.) 
second-sighted (sek'und-si'ted), a. Possess- 
ing the faculty of second sight; gifted with 
second sight. See second sight, under sight. 
Then second-sighted Sandy said, 
" We'll do nae good at a', WUUe." 
Up and War Them A', Willie (Child's Ballads, VII. 265). 
A peculiar organisation, a habitof haunting the desert, 
and of fasting, combine to produce the inyanga or second- 
sighted man [among the Zulus]. Encyc. Brit., II. 204. 
seconds-pendulum (sek'undz-pen*du-lum), n. 
A pendulum which makes one oscillation per 
second of mean time. See pendulum. 
secret 
seconic (se-kon'ik), n. A conic section. Caylftj. 
secoundelyt, adv. A Middle English form of 
tecoiutty. 
secret, secreet, " and n. [ME., < OF. secre, also 
secret, > E. secret : see secret."] I. a. Secret. 
Bote vndur his secre seal Treuthe sende a lettre. 
And bad hem bugge boldely w hat hem best lykede. 
Piers Plowman (A), viii. 25. 
Be not wroth, though I the ofte praye 
To holden secre swich an heigh matere. 
Chaucer, Troilus, iii. 286. 
II. n. A secret, or secrets collectively; a 
matter or matters of secrecy. 
This false theef, this somonour, quod the frere, 
Hadde alwey bawdes redy to his hond 
As any hank to lure in Engelond, 
That tolde hym al the secree that they knewe. 
Chaucer, Friar's Tale, 1. 41. 
secret, secreet, "</' [ME., < secre, secree, a.] 
Secretly. 
It be doon secre that noo man see. 
Palladius, Husbondrie (E. E. T. S.), p. 20. 
secrecy (se'kre-si), n. [Formerly also secrecie, 
srcremj ; <,secre(t) + -cy."] 1. The state of be- 
ing secret or concealed; secret, secretive, or 
clandestine manner, method, or conduct ; con- 
cealment from the observation or knowledge 
of others: as, to carry on a design in secrecy; 
to secure secrecy. 
This to me 
In dreadful secrecy impart they did. 
Shale., Hamlet, i. 2. 207. 
Most surprising things having been managed and 
brought about by them [the Turks], in Cairo, with the 
utmost policy and secrecy. 
Pocodce, Description of the East, I. 178. 
2. Privacy ; retirement ; seclusion ; solitude. 
Thou in thy secresy, although alone, 
Best with thyself accompanied, seek'st not 
Social communication. Milton, P. L , viii. 427. 
3. Ability to keep a secret or secrets ; fidelity 
in keeping secrets; strict silence regarding 
matters intended to be kept secret. 
Constant you are, 
But yet a woman ; and. for secrecy, 
No lady closer. Shak., 1 Hen. IV., If. 4. 112. 
4. Secretive habits; secretiveness ; lack of 
openness. 
The man is peremptory and secret : his secresy vexes me. 
Charlotte Bronte, Shirley, xviii. 
5f. A secret ; also, secrets collectively. 
The subtle-shining secrecies 
Writ in the glassy margents of such books. 
Shak., Lucrece, 1. 101. 
In nature's infinite book of secrecy 
A little I can read. Shak., A. and C., i. 2. 9. 
secreet, .,., and adv. See secre. 
secrelyt, secreelyt, adv. [ME., < secre, secree, 
+ -ly 2 . Doublet of secretly. ] Secretly; in 
secret. 
I can hyde and hele thynges that men oghte secreely to 
hyde. Chaucer, Tale of Melibeus. 
For Melnsine, the woman on* Fary, 
Which thar-after cam full many a nyght 
Into the chambre right full secrely 
Wher nourished was Terry suetly to ryght 
Rom. of Partenay (E. E. T. S.), L 4018. 
secrenesset, n. [< ME. secrenesse, < secre + 
-ness. Doublet of secretness."] Secrecy ; privacy. 
Thou biwreyest alle secrenegse. 
Chaucer, Man of Law's Tale, 1. 675. 
secret (se'kret), a. and . [< ME. secret, secrete, 
sekret, usually secre, secree, < OF. secret, secre, 
F. secret = Pr. secret = Sp. secreto = Pg. secreto, 
segredo = It. secreto, segreto, secret; as a noun, 
< OF. secret, secre, etc., m., a secret, secrete, 
secrelte, segrette, a secret place, a cap of fence, 
etc. ; < L. secretus, separated, removed, solitary, 
lonely, hidden, concealed, secret; in neuter as 
a noun, secretum, retirement, solitude, secrecy, 
also a thing hidden, a mystery, secret, secret 
conversation; pp. of secernere, separate, set 
apart, < se-, apart, + eeriiere, separate : see 
secern. Cf. secre, secree, and secrete, v.~\ I. a. 
1. Set or kept apart; hidden; concealed, (a) 
Kept from the knowledge of others ; concealed from the 
notice or knowledge of all except the person or persons 
concerned ; private ; not revealed. 
Ye shal not dyscouer the counsel! of the bretherynhod 
or of the crafte, that ye have knowlych of, that shold be 
sekret withyn ouer-selfe. English Gilds(E. E. T. S.X p. 317. 
They will send the enemye secrett advertisement of all 
their purposes. Spenser, State of Ireland. 
I have a secret errand to thee, O king. Judges iii. 19. 
Nor shall he smile at thee in secret thought. 
Shak., Lucrece, 1. 1065. 
Cleanse, O cleanse my crafty soul 
From secret crimes. Quarles, Emblems, i., Invoc. 
(6) Privy ; not decent to be exposed to view. 
He smote the men of the city, both small and great, and 
they had emerods in their secret parts. 1 Sam. v. 8. 
