Etymograph

English

secondary

Secondary comes from Latin secundārius ‘of the second class’, from secundus ‘following, second’, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sekʷ- ‘to follow’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sekʷ-1‘to follow’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*sekʷondo-2literally ‘that follows’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsecundus1‘following; second’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsecundārius1‘of the second class or quality’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500secundarie1‘secondary’
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1603–1604secondary1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English secondary
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin secundus
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1603–1604, William Shakespeare, Measure for Measure: “Old Escalus […] is thy secondary.”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sekʷ-Wiktionary, English secondary‘to follow’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*sekʷondo-Wiktionary, Latin secundusliterally ‘that follows’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsecundusWiktionary, English secondary‘following; second’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsecundāriusWiktionary, English secondary‘of the second class or quality’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500secundarieWiktionary, English secondary‘secondary’
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1603–1604secondaryWiktionary, English secondary. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1603–1604, William Shakespeare, Measure for Measure: “Old Escalus […] is thy secondary.”

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Today it means

adj Next in order to the first or primary; of second place in origin, rank, etc.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “secondary”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin secundus. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *sekʷ- / secondary