Secretary Government Noun ˈsekrətri ˈsekrəteri Legal/Medical Mayor's Press

• a legal/medical secretary
• the mayor's press secretary
• please contact my secretary to make an appointment.
• he is secretary to the board of governors.

secretary

1. a person who works in an office, working for another person, dealing with mail and phone calls, keeping records, arranging meetings with people, etc.
• SEE ALSO executive secretary
  https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/executive-secretary
• a legal/medical secretary
• the mayor's press secretary
• Please contact my secretary to make an appointment.
• He is secretary to the board of governors.
2. an official of a club, society, etc. who deals with mail, keeping records and making business arrangements
• SEE ALSO general secretary
  https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/general-secretary
• the membership secretary
• She served as club secretary for 25 years.
• The union's branch secretary said he hoped a solution would be found.
• secretary to the Jockey Club
3. (in the UK) the head of an important government department
• SEE ALSO Foreign Secretary
  https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/the-foreign-secretary
4. the head of a government department, chosen by the president
• Secretary of the Treasury
• She was deputy secretary of agriculture in the first Obama administration.
5. an assistant of a government minister, an ambassador, etc.
• SEE ALSO parliamentary secretary
  https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/parliamentary-secretary
• Ms Watson is a former parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Education.

Word Origin

• late Middle English (originally in the sense ‘person entrusted with a secret’): from late Latin secretarius ‘confidential officer’, from Latin secretum ‘secret’, neuter of secretus ‘separate, set apart’, from the verb secernere, from se- ‘apart’ + cernere ‘sift’.