Secretary of Commerce and Labor
- noun
- Formal
:
Secretario de Comercio y Trabajo
- The Secretary of Commerce and Labor oversaw both commercial and labor affairs before the department was split.
Examples
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Did you know that the Secretary of Commerce and Labor was established in 1903?
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During his tenure as Secretary of Commerce and Labor, he promoted several regulatory reforms.
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The office of Secretary of Commerce and Labor existed for only a decade in U.S. history.
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The Secretary of Commerce and Labor announced new regulations.
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The Secretary of Commerce and Labor played a crucial role in shaping U.S. economic policy during the early 20th century.
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As the Secretary of Commerce and Labor, she was responsible for addressing issues related to trade and workforce rights.
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The responsibilities of the Secretary of Commerce and Labor included managing both economic growth and labor relations.
Surface Forms
Morphology
secretary + of + Commerce + and + Labor
The phrase is fully compositional: 'secretary' (a senior official) + 'of' + 'Commerce and Labor' (names of government departments) yields the meaning ‘the head of the combined Commerce and Labor department’. This is a standard government-title construction found across languages, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words will readily infer the MWE's basic meaning (even if they might not know the historical detail that the department was later split).
Etymology
The Secretary of Commerce and Labor name comes from a time when one official led a department that handled both Commerce and Labor. Picture one person wearing two hats — a business hat for 'commerce' and a worker's cap for 'labor' — which helps you remember this was the 'head' of both business and worker issues before the department split into two.
