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Glite Dictionary
💼 Finance department head 💼 US finance chief
Secretary of the Treasury

Secretary of the Treasury

7 4.1
The head of the United States department that manages national money and financial policy
  • proper noun
  • /ˈsɛkrəˌtɛri əv ðə ˈtrɛʒəri/
  • Formal
translation icon : secretario del Tesoro (EE. UU.)
  • In March 1964, Secretary of the Treasury C. Douglas Dillon halted redemption of silver certificates for silver dollars.
  • Secretary of the Treasury Henry Morgenthau
  • Secretary of the Treasury Paul O'Neill
  • U.S. Secretary of the Treasury

Examples

  • I'm pleased to announce that I will nominate Henry Paulson to be the Secretary of the Treasury.

    Inside Job (2010)

  • In a West Wing ceremony, Secretary of the Treasury Chase presents Lincoln with a newly minted twenty-dollar bill.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • Secretary of the Treasury Paul O'Neill has taken the same position.

    Academic text (2002)

  • Gary should immediately announce he will appoint Ron Paul as Secretary of the Treasury and Chairman of the Fed if elected.

    Blog text (13)

  • Hamilton was Secretary of the Treasury as well as the leader of the Federalist Party, which dominated the Senate.

    Academic text (2014)

  • Obama hired one to be the Secretary of the Treasury, who is also the nominal head of the IRS.

    Blog text (20)

  • By Henry M. Paulson, Jr. Henry M. Paulson, Jr. is U.S. Secretary of the Treasury.

    Academic text (2008)

  • During 1942 discussions regarding aid for China, the President confided to Secretary of the Treasury Henry Morgenthau, "I think that it is popular to help the Chinese."

    Academic text (2003)

  • No member of John F. Kennedy's cabinet was more loyal to the president than Secretary of the Treasury Douglas Dillon, a leading Republican contributor.

    Academic text (1999)

  • The Secretary of the Treasury announced new policies to improve the economy.

Synonyms

minister of finance
vsSecretary of the Treasury
  • Formal
72 4.2

A government official who manages a country's money, taxes and spending

is specific to the US department head rather than a generic national money official
Treasury Secretary
vsSecretary of the Treasury
  • Formal
46 4.1

A senior government official who manages a country's money and economy

is the formal official title used in government documents
Chancellor
vsSecretary of the Treasury
  • UK
14 7.7

A cabinet minister who manages the government's money and taxes

is the US counterpart rather than the British cabinet financial officer
Chancellor of the Exchequer
vsSecretary of the Treasury
  • UK
2 7.8

A senior government official who manages the country's money and taxes

is the US head rather than the British minister responsible for finances

Surface Forms

Secretary of the Treasury main

Morphology

secretary + of + the + Treasury

The meaning 'head of the Treasury Department' is directly and compositionally derived from 'secretary' (a senior official) + 'of the' (possession/association) + 'Treasury' (the government finance department). This is a formal title with clear cross-linguistic equivalents (e.g. minister/secretary of finance), so a B1 learner who knows the constituents would readily infer the meaning.

Etymology

Secretary of the Treasury comes from old government naming. A treasury is the place where a country's 'money' is kept, and a secretary was a trusted official who looked after private papers and tasks. So the name means the person 'in charge' of the nation's money.