English
Etymology
From Latin ancillāris ( “ ancillary; relating to maids ” ) , from ancilla ( “ maid ” ) .
Pronunciation
Adjective
ancillary (comparative more ancillary , superlative most ancillary )
Subordinate ; secondary ; auxiliary
Synonym: accessory
1836 , Ralph Waldo Emerson , Nature , Chapter 3 :
[ …] how easily he took all things along with him,—the persons, the opinions, and the day, and nature became ancillary to a man.
1898 , John Wesley Powell , Truth and Error , Chapter 7
[E]very organ of the body, whatever function it may perform, must also perform the other four functions in an ancillary manner.
Translations
subordinate, secondary, auxiliary, accessory
Bulgarian: помощен (bg) ( pomošten ) , спомагателен (bg) ( spomagatelen )
Catalan: auxiliar (ca)
Danish: sekundær , underordnet
Dutch: ondergeschikt (nl) , ondersteunend (nl)
Finnish: avustava (fi) , apu- (fi) , oheis- (fi) ; tukeva (fi) , tuki- (fi) ; toissijainen (fi)
French: subordonné (fr) m , secondaire (fr) m or f , auxiliaire (fr) m or f , ancillaire (fr)
German: hilfs- , neben- (de) , zusatz-
Interlingue: Lua error in Module:translations at line 71 : Translations must be for attested and approved main-namespace languages. , Lua error in Module:translations at line 71 : Translations must be for attested and approved main-namespace languages.
Italian: subordinato (it) m , secondario (it) m , ausiliare (it)
(deprecated template usage ) {{trans-mid }}
Polish: podrzędny (pl) , podporządkowany , pomocniczy (pl)
Portuguese: subordinado (pt) m , secundário (pt) m , auxiliar (pt) , ancilário m , ancilar (pt) , auxiliário (pt) m
Russian: вспомога́тельный (ru) ( vspomogátelʹnyj ) , подсо́бный (ru) ( podsóbnyj ) , дополни́тельный (ru) ( dopolnítelʹnyj ) , подчинённый (ru) ( podčinjónnyj )
Spanish: secundario (es) , auxiliar (es)
Swedish: underordnad (sv) , sekundär (sv)
Turkish: yardımcı (tr) , tali (tr)
Urdu: مُعاوِن ( muawan )
Noun
ancillary (plural ancillaries )
Something that serves an ancillary function, such as an easel for a painter .
( archaic ) An auxiliary .
Translations
References
“ancillary ”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary , Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam , 1913 , →OCLC .
“ancillary ”, in The Century Dictionary [ … ] , New York, N.Y.: The Century Co. , 1911 , →OCLC .
“ancillary ”, in OneLook Dictionary Search .
Anagrams