英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

second nature (n.)[second nature 词源字典]: late 14c., from Latin secundum naturam "according to nature" (Augustine, Macrobius, etc.), literally "following nature;" from medieval Aristotelian philosophy, contrasted to phenomena that were super naturam ("above nature," such as God's grace), extra naturam ("outside nature"), supra naturam ("beyond nature," such as miracles), contra naturam "against nature," etc.[second nature etymology, second nature origin, 英语词源]
second-class (adj.): 1833, from noun phrase (1810), from second (adj.) + class (n.). Phrase second-class citizen is recorded from 1942.
The Negro recognizes that he is a second-class citizen and that status is fraught with violent potentialities, particularly today when he is living up to the full responsibilities of citizenship on the field of battle. [Louis E. Martin, "To Be or Not to Be a Liberal," in "The Crisis," September 1942]
second-guess (v.): 1941, back-formation from second-guesser (1937), American English, originally baseball slang for a fan who loudly questions decisions by players, managers, etc.; perhaps from guesser in the baseball slang sense of "umpire."
second-hand (adj.): also secondhand, late 15c., from second (adj.) + hand (n.).
second-rate (adj.): 1660s, originally of ships; see rate (n.).
secondary (adj.): late 14c., from Latin secundarius "pertaining to the second class, inferior," from secundus (see second (adj.)). Of colors, from 1831; of education, from 1809. Of sex characteristics from 1780. Opposed to primary or principal. Related: Secondarily.
secondly (adv.): late 14c., from second (adj.) + -ly (2).
secondment (n.): 1897, from second (v.) + -ment.
seconds (n.): "articles below the first quality," c. 1600, plural of second (n.) "that which is after the first" (early 14c.), from second (adj.); originally attested in this sense in a Shakespeare sonnet. Meaning "second helping of food at a meal" is recorded from 1792.
secrecy (n.): 1570s, from secretee, "quality of being secret" (early 15c.), from Old French secré, variant of secret (see secret (n.)) + -ty (2). Form altered on model of primacy, etc.
secret (v.): "to keep secret" (described in OED as "obsolete"), 1590s, from secret (n.). Related: Secreted; secreting.
secret (n.): late 14c., from Latin secretus "set apart, withdrawn; hidden, concealed, private," past participle of secernere "to set apart, part, divide; exclude," from se- "without, apart," properly "on one's own" (see se-) + cernere "separate" (see crisis).

As an adjective from late 14c., from French secret, adjective use of noun. Open secret is from 1828. Secret agent first recorded 1715; secret service is from 1737; secret weapon is from 1936.
secretaire (n.): cabinet for private papers, 1771, from French secrétaire (13c.), from Medieval Latin secretarius (see secretary). Englished form secretary is attested in this sense from 1803.
secretarial (adj.): 1801, from stem of secretary (Medieval Latin secretarius) + -al (1).
secretariat (n.): "office of secretary," 1811, from French secrétariat, from Medieval Latin secretariatus, from secretarius (see secretary). Meaning "division of the Central Committeee of the USSR" is from 1926, from Russian sekretariat.
secretary (n.): late 14c., "person entrusted with secrets," from Medieval Latin secretarius "clerk, notary, confidential officer, confidant," a title applied to various confidential officers, noun use of adjective meaning "private, secret, pertaining to private or secret matters" (compare Latin secretarium "a council-chamber, conclave, consistory"), from Latin secretum "a secret, a hidden thing" (see secret (n.)).

Meaning "person who keeps records, write letters, etc.," originally for a king, first recorded c. 1400. As title of ministers presiding over executive departments of state, it is from 1590s. The word also is used in both French and English to mean "a private desk," sometimes in French form secretaire. The South African secretary bird so called (1786) in reference to its crest, which, when smooth, resembles a pen stuck over the ear. Compare Late Latin silentiarius "privy councilor, 'silentiary," from Latin silentium "a being silent."
secrete (v.): 1707, back-formation from secretion. Related: Secreted; secretes; secreting.
secretion (n.): 1640s, "act of secreting;" 1732, "that which is secreted," from French sécrétion, from Latin secretionem (nominative secretio) "a dividing, separation," noun of action from past participle stem of secernere "to separate, set apart" (see secret (n.)).
secretive (adj.): "inclined to secrecy," 1815 (implied in secretiveness); see secret (n.) + -ive. The word also was in Middle English with a sense "secret, hidden" (mid-15c.). Related: Secretively.
secretly (adv.): early 15c., from secret (adj.) + -ly (2).